The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Premier Greg Selinger isn't taking a clear position in a Flin Flon annexation debate that his government may ultimately have to resolve. While in Flin Flon last week, Premier Selinger met with Mayor George Fontaine to discuss, among other things, the possibility of annexing cottage subdivisions near the city. Asked afterwards how he feels about that idea, Premier Selinger said it will be up to city council to apply for annexation and that any application would be 'considered on its merits.' 'But as the mayor he has the right to follow the legislation and make an application for that,' the premier told The Reminder. 'We support municipalities being able to offer decent quality of services and doing it in such a way that they can grow their communities, have a stronger tax base, which in turn allows for better quality services in the future. 'So generally we'd like to see him have his opportunities to provide leadership to expand and improve the quality of life in this community.' Asked whether provincial approval of annexation would open up a can of worms, Premier Selinger reiterated that there is a process in place to decide these matters. See 'Process' on pg. Continued from pg. 'Again, (Mayor Fontaine) has to make the application. It has to be considered on its merits,' said the premier. 'There's the provision for public hearings under the Municipal Board when you do something like that, and then it has to be considered on its merits. 'But the mayor is making the case that there's a community here that has good services now, needs to maintain them and that everybody should be a part of that. (Annexation) is not necessarily his only choice. He wants to look at different alternatives to ensure that everybody can make a contribution to the services they benefit from in the community.' Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen, who joined Premier Selinger on his visit, said he himself is engaged in the issue. 'It's my job as the MLA, I'm talking to some people, and hopefully cooler heads will prevail,' said Pettersen, 'because this is an opportunity we have as Flin Flonners to come together and keep on making our community one of the great communities in this province.' Pettersen said it's his feeling that people who live at the lake are Flin Flonners, though not all of them agree with that label. 'And basically it's about money,' he said. 'How much is it going to cost you to be part of the community of Flin Flon, because we need some help. And that help is in terms of paying for the services, whether it's their shopping areas, the rink, the pool, the airport or even...the graveyards and fire (service). So it's a matter of getting together.' In the event of an annexation application, the Manitoba Municipal Board, a quasi-judicial tribunal, would review the information and hold a public hearing. After digesting all of the pertinent data and opinions, the board would make a 'yea or nay' recommendation to the Minister of Local Government, a position currently held by southern MLA Ron Lemieux. Although Lemieux technically has the final word himself, it would most certainly be a government-wide decision with input from people like Premier Selinger. City council has not confirmed whether it will attempt to annex cottage subdivisions, though Mayor Fontaine has made it clear that this is an option still very much on the table. Yet he has also said he would prefer to come up with alternate arrangements to have cottagers help financially support Flin Flon-funded services they use. 'Difficult' In public comments in August, Mayor Fontaine acknowledged that any annexation attempt would be 'a very difficult job and we're not necessarily 100 per cent sure we can succeed.' To date, talks between the city and the area cottage association have failed to make much headway. On July 1, the city ended its years-old practice of sending firefighters to cabin blazes after cottage association reps rejected the city's request for a $300 annual fee for every road-accessible cabin. Prior to that, cottagers collectively refused the city's request for an annual 'service fee' of $882 that would have seen year-round cabin residents directly fund a range of municipal services. Figures provided to the city by the province indicate there are 363 cottages in the Flin Flon area. City officials have put the number of actual cottagers at close to 1,000.
