Most of the town of Sackville will be represented by four councillors elected at-large in a single ward once a new Entity 40 council takes charge in January 2023. At least that’s the most recent decision made by provincial consultant Chad Peters, under advice from a committee of appointed representatives from the region.
In a meeting last week, Peters presented a revised draft map for Entity 40, based on feedback he received from Sackville representatives Mayor Shawn Mesheau and Deputy Mayor Andrew Black.
Tonight, councillors will have a chance to give their feedback on the new map, before the next meeting of Peters’ advisory committee on March 16th.
"The maps have been redrawn based on what we brought back," says Mesheau, "in regards to what the community here was looking for. So now it goes back again, with what's been lined out, and the opportunity will be for council to comment on that, and provide any direction or suggestions, back to myself and the deputy mayor, to take that back to the committee on the 16th.”
The new map shows another part of the current town of Sackville shaved off to be included with a larger Midgic ward that now stretches from the middle of Silver Lake all the way up to the border with Beaubassin East.
The changes made are intended to “provide a more equitable share of electors compared to the first drafts,” according to a post on the town of Sackville website. The new map still shows a wide gap in numbers of electors per representative, with 415 electors for the Point de Bute representative, and about 1100 electors per representative in the Sackville ward.
Protesters met outside town hall for two days last week, expressing concerns about the fairness of ward distribution, and a lack of consultation with the public on how to set up the new Entity 40. Mayor Mesheau said he was not able to speak with the protesters last week, and although organizer Carol Cooke had reached out to him, he had not spoken to her directly.
The topic of municipal reform is on the agenda for tonight’s town of Sackville council meeting, taking place at 7pm.