Conventional wisdom holds that municipal consolidations facilitate economic growth and provide better services in a larger municipal unit. After the recent experience in Nova Scotia, we believe this to be true, but also recognize that securing the benefits will take both hard work and objective measurement.
Kevin Latimer, QC is a partner in the Halifax office of Cox & Palmer. He was appointed Coordinator for the Windsor-West Hants municipal project by the Province of Nova Scotia in December 2018. His recent article, published in Municipal World, Sept 2020, shares lessons learned from a new model of consolidation.
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Twelve years after the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment introduced a Canada-Wide Action Plan for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), it’s time for Nova Scotia to consider shifting the burden of waste management from municipalities to producers. In a traditional waste management system, municipalities are responsible for operating waste collection and management. With EPR […]
read moreA 10 year review of appeals of municipal planning decisions before the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) shows that the UARB rarely overturns decisions of municipal councils and even more rarely if the appeal has been launched by interested citizens. Appeals by developers have been marginally more successful. But it would be wrong […]
read moreThere are good ways to govern, and not so good ways. Here are 10 steps that, if followed, will produce better outcomes for Municipal Council and Committee meetings.
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