Wabush, Labrador City vote in favour of amalgamation study

Council meetings in both Labrador City and Wabush have paved the way for a study to look at amalgamating the two communities.

Both councils passed motions at separate meetings on Tuesday,to start a joint study into the feasibility of amalgamation for the region.

"We certainly have a long way to go," Wabush Mayor Colin Vardysaid, addressing Labrador Citycouncil, many of whomjoined the meeting in Wabush council chambers Tuesdayevening.

"But I think this is a milestone. I think that we can celebrate and you have a commitment from our council that we will work with you."

The two townswill be submitting a request toMunicipal Affairs, which will appoint a commissioner to look at the idea of a new government structure for Labrador West.

Recreation costs

The idea of looking at amalgamationwas strengthenedas Wabush was examining its finances for this year's budget, which was also passed on Tuesday.

• Amalgamation could secure future for Labrador West towns, says MHA
• Labrador City mayor predicts merger with Wabush

"We realized there was going to be a shortfall this year," Vardy said."We quickly realized regional cooperation is going to be the most important."

Wabushhas been getting financial assistancefrom the provincial governmentsinceWabushMines shut down, but that help wasfurther scaled back this year, and the town saidit had $600,000 less to work with.

Labrador City gave Wabush$300,000 to help keepits recreational centre open, while the study on amalgamation moves forward.

"Thiswouldn't have been possible without the help from our neighbours across the lake, and we do appreciate the assistance here and it did allow us to keep our facilities running this year," WabushDeputy Mayor Terry Curran said.

Multi-plex

The two towns have already committed to work together on the idea of a multi-plex recreational facility to service the entire region. Both councils supported the idea in motions put forward at Tuesday's meetings.

"It was really eye opening for both sides, quite frankly, to recognize that we're spending more percentage on recreation operating than most other municipalities," Labrador City Mayor Karen Oldfordsaid.

"The fact is you have to have great recreation in Labrador in order to attract and retain residents on many of the cold winter nights."

While there are outstanding questions about what amalgamation means for people in the two communities, Oldford said the idea is still too fresh to have any concrete numbers.

"What does this mean to me, what does it mean to my services, what does it mean to my taxes, those are the questions I think most residents will have," Oldfordsaid.

"Right now, until we do the joint studywe won't know."