Minister Meets With Municipal, Community Leaders

Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations Minister John MacDonell is meeting with municipal and community leaders across the province to explore ways to keep communities great places to live, work, and raise families.

The minister met with leaders from Antigonish, Guysborough, Canso and St. Mary's this week to discuss challenges and opportunities in their communities.

"From roads to tourism to arenas, these meetings provided me with valuable insight on how we can work together," said Mr. MacDonell. "The people leading and living in our communities have the right insight and ideas on how we can make life better for families while living within our means."

"We would like to thank the minister for taking the time to meet us and giving us the opportunity to discuss our municipality," said Carl Chisholm, mayor of the Town of Antigonish. "We hope to build on these discussions to help us plan for a sustainable future."

The minister said he is pleased to hear more about projects that municipalities and the province are already pursuing together. For example, the province provided $200,000 to support the purchase of a shared financial management system for nine municipalities.

"We want to build on ideas like this that can help municipalities become more efficient and save money, as they work to protect services families and businesses rely on," said Mr. MacDonell.

Mr. MacDonell will continue to meet with municipalities over the coming months.