The Provincial Government is moving forward with progressive legislation to govern towns and local service districts throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. The proposed Towns and Local Service Districts Act will be modern and enabling, replacing the Municipalities Act, 1999. The Bill received second reading in the House of Assembly today.

Highlights of the advancements in the Towns and Local Service Districts Act include:

• Increasing autonomy and flexibility for towns, empowering them to better address current and future issues or circumstances in their local context;
• Providing towns with broad powers for enacting by-laws and additional authority and flexibility for enforcing by-laws;
• Reducing instances where ministerial approval is necessary;
• Increasing opportunities for public oversight regarding open and closed meetings;
• Eliminating or minimizing regressive tax authorities;
• Increasing flexibility to generate tax revenue and providing tools for tax affordability;
• Improving clarity and providing additional tools to facilitate economic development; and
• Modernizing language and including gender neutral language.

If passed, the Towns and Local Service Districts Act will inform drafting of new legislation for the cities of Mount Pearl, Corner Brook and the City of St. John’s. The proposed Act reflects input from stakeholder groups, community leaders and residents through a formal consultation process and multiple meetings and discussions.

Quotes
“Municipal legislation directly impacts the daily lives of the province’s residents. It must reflect the current and evolving nature of towns, empower their leaders, and meet the needs and expectations of residents. The proposed Towns and Local Service Districts Act is enabling and modern, providing towns with greater flexibility and autonomy. The Act also provides additional direction to local service districts. If passed, this Act will increase transparency and accountability at the local level.”
Honourable John Haggie
Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs

“MNL and our members have been asking for updated municipal legislation for quite some time. We are pleased to see enabling legislation tabled in the House of Assembly. This proposed legislation does reflect many of the recommendations that MNL provided during the consultation phase. We look forward to continuing our review and to the conversation on how to support our members to govern in the best possible ways.”
Amy Coady, President
Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador

“PMA has been advocating for a replacement to the Municipalities Act 1999 and has provided recommendations for changes based on consultations and feedback from our members. This legislation governs the work of municipalities and we appreciate the efforts that the department put into a new piece of enabling legislation and our organization looks forward to reviewing it and providing insightful feedback.”
Brian Hudson, President
Professional Municipal Administrators NL

-30-

Learn more
Follow us on X @GovNL and @MPA_GovNL

Like us on Facebook