Woodstock town councillor would rather quit than switch

A Woodstock town councillor wouldrather bow out of politics than agree to forced amalgamation.

Randy Leonard has decided not to run again after 23 years in municipal politics.

Leonard, a former mayor, said he doesn't like the way the changes are being forced on his community andhow fast it's happening. And like some protestersin the town of Sackville, he worries the new makeup of council would leave some people's voices unheard.

"I just kind of object to somebody from outside the community telling us how to run our business," he told Information Morning Fredericton.

"It soundslike a dictatorship to me."

The deadline to finalize boundaries of the 90 new entities, down from 340, was last month.

New name

The plan dictates Woodstock absorb two surrounding local service districtsand parts of four others. Members from the new, larger community are invited to a meeting on April 11 to hear about the changes.

The province said it's sending two people to the meeting, including a historian to provide advice on an appropriate name for the amalgamated area. That doesn't sit well with Leonard.

"And now they want to rename the town, which has been Woodstock since 1856," he said.

Under the new rules, Leonard said, there will be four councillors from Woodstockand four from the surrounding LSDs. He said two of those LSDs voted against amalgamation but are now being forced.

"I've yet to see the great benefit for the community. I mean, we have a great tax base here in this community [already]," Leonardsaid.

Amalgamation more efficient, province says

The province hassaid the mergerswill help consolidate services, find more efficient ways to serve people in rural areasand increase tax bases.Daniel Allain, the Progressive Conservative minister of local governance reform, has said this wouldhelpcouncils and the provincebetter serve residents.

Leonard is worried Woodstock will"lose its identity."

Hesaid he hopes that won't happen, but the fact that the province is forcing the amalgamation starts the process in the wrong way.

The municipal plan was released in November 2021, and the new entities are expected to get everything ready for electionof their new councillors by November 2022.

Many communities and organizations, even those that favour the changes, have said this timeline is too tight and is causing stress on staff and residents.

Allainhas defended this timeline, saying more time "can be a disadvantage in some cases," and moving fast isthe "only way to move sometimes."