Inflation, labor shortages, skyrocketing spending and bureaucracy are forcing many small Quebec communities to consider the possibility of amalgamation. Others are even launching the idea of dividing elected officials.
Two merger applications are currently pending with the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MAMH) and some fifteen municipalities have applied for regrouping studies.
In Beauce, the elected officials of Saint-Évariste-de-Forsyth are hoping for the approval of the ministry to merge with the neighboring municipality of Courcelles in the MRC du Granit.
“Don’t wait until you hit the wall,” says Saint-Évariste-de-Forsyth Mayor Camil Martin.
His counterpart from Courcelles, Francis Bélanger, confirms that in the communal world more and more small communities are talking about regrouping.
“We feel a surge of solidarity […] Everyone at the mayor’s table is of the opinion that something has to be done,” he analyses.
If the ministry gives a positive opinion, the two municipalities could merge as early as 2023. Holding a referendum is not out of the question as some citizens of Courcelles are against the project.
Demand in Abitibi
The other official request for regrouping concerns La Morandière and Rochebaucourt in Abitibi.
The elected representatives of the two municipalities launched the merger process in 2021 with the completion of a study presented to citizens last April.
“If there is no regrouping, we will no longer be able to offer as many services to our population and we will have to increase taxes,” says the mayor of Rochebaucourt, Alain Trudel.
Like many, he complains about the lack of staff. The municipality of La Morandière has been working without a mayor for several months.
Mr. Trudel expects a response from the department in December. He even mentions the possibility of another congregation joining the merger movement before the next election.
Studies for Islet and Kamouraska
In the RCM of L’Islet, the communes of Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, L’Islet, Saint-Aubert and Sainte-Louise are awaiting the results of a study on the possibility of creating a new one shortly City with about 9000 inhabitants.
In particular, the exercise conducted by the MAMH will show the hypothetical figures for a first budget. If the merger goes through, it would be the largest merger in the province since Drummondville’s in 2004, when four companies were combined.
In the neighboring MRC, 7 of Kamouraska’s 17 municipalities announced in November that they would ask the ministry to conduct an opportunity study.
La Pocatière, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Saint-Onésime-d’Ixworth, Rivière-Ouelle, Saint-Pacôme, Saint-Gabriel-Lalemant and Saint-Denis-De La Bouteillerie could merge.
“Reality is catching up with us with exploding costs. The responsibility of the municipalities is increasing, we have to find ways not to overburden our taxpayers,” explains Vincent Bérubé, Mayor of La Pocatière.
The possibility of “waiving” elected representatives between the municipalities was also mentioned. “No solution is out of the question. The study will tell us,” concludes Mr. Bérubé.
The smallest village wants to merge
The growing interest in mergers can also be seen in one of Quebec’s smallest communities.
Located in Bas-Saint-Laurent, Saint-Guy and its 52 inhabitants stretch to their neighbor Lac-des-Aigles.
A study is underway and elected officials attended a second meeting with officials from the Department of Local Affairs last week.
This project is causing controversy because the communes of Bas-Saint-Laurent, although contiguous, are not in the same MRC.
For this reason, the MRC des Basques opposes the merger of the two entities, fearing losing Saint-Guy in favor of the MRC du Témiscouata.
However, the mayor of Saint-Guy, Gilles Roussel, is very interested in it for the good of his citizens.
Group requests to analyze
At the request of around fifteen municipalities, the ministry is also working on several opportunity studies for municipal mergers.
Lack of staff causes nightmares
The President of the Federation of Quebec Municipalities (FQM), Jacques Demers, notes an unprecedented desire among its members to consolidate services.
With kind approval
Jacques Demer. President of the FQM
If the general increase in costs worries municipal officials, the lack of staff also gives them nightmares.
Whether as managing director, treasurer, road worker or supervisor of day camps, there are many vacancies in the municipalities that are difficult to fill.
“It has become very difficult to find general managers […] When it comes to clearing snow, we have difficulties in getting offers for several municipalities,” the President of the FQM states.
running out of solutions
Small communities are running out of solutions and the situation is getting worse. “We have aging employees. You are in autumn and you have no one to drive your snow plow,” the mayor of Saint-Évariste-de-Forsyth in Beauce, Camil Martin, cites as an example.
He also reminds that candidates in local elections do not rush to the doors to become councilors or mayors. “Except in the big cities, it’s often pensioners who are asked to introduce themselves,” emphasizes Mr. Martin.
In fact, the number of elected officials without opposition has increased dramatically in 2021, confirms Danielle Pilette, professor and expert in municipal finance and tax at UQAM.
Documents and other requirements
“We see cases where there is no candidate at all,” she notes.
According to the teacher, all the paperwork and other government requirements are driving communities struggling to meet the abyss.
“Yes, expenses are going up a lot, petrol etc, but it’s not just that, it’s a question of requirements […] It is very difficult for small municipalities in the context of labor shortage. »
More than twenty years after the painful episode of the forced mergers, the Quebec government has no intention of starring in this film again, our stakeholders believe.
Rather, it is the elected officials who set out to find solutions to keep themselves alive.
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