There appears to be a growing appetite for amalgamation in the greater Saint John area.
A new Corporate Research Associates poll finds one-half of residents surveyed in Saint John and surrounding communities are in favour of amalgamation, up from 42 per cent a year ago.
Support is greatest in the city itself, with 65 per cent saying they support amalgamation, compared to 54 per cent last year.
“We know there’s been a lot of discussion about the city finances in the last 12 months especially,” says Don Mills, chairman and CEO of Corporate Research Associates, “and that might have prompted people to think about amalgamation in a slightly different way.”
Growing support for the amalgamation of Rothesay, Quispamsis, Grand Bay-Westfield and Saint John. Visit https://t.co/AKqRebyDfC for full release #SaintJohn pic.twitter.com/BybPYL7FZW
— Corporate Research (@CRAInsight) May 30, 2018
In surrounding communities, support climbed to 32 per cent from 28 per cent, but an overwhelming 60 per cent say they still oppose amalgamation, which Mills says comes as no surprise.
“There’s obviously vested interest involved in those living outside the city in terms of any potential impact on their taxes of being part of a bigger entity,” he says. “There also is probably some attachment to the communities themselves that they don’t want to give up.”
Premier Brian Gallant has made it clear his government won’t force amalgamation on communities that don’t want it.
The results are part of the CRA Urban Report, an independent telephone survey of 300 Saint John (Census Metropolitan Area [CMA]) adult residents, 18 years of age or older, conducted from April 18 to May 2, 2018.
Overall results are accurate to within ±5.7 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.
