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.
'We would be a powerful community in the North here, Flin Flon-Creighton as one community.' So said Coun. Bill Hanson of Flin Flon after the idea of a merger between the neighbouring communities surfaced at a recent budget meeting. To be clear, there is no merger plan, nor are there merger talks. There is just an idea held by a number of residents who see little point in maintaining Flin Flon and Creighton as separate entities. But the simple fact is this: if there were a huge groundswell of support for amalgamating these distinct but unified dots on the map, we would have seen some serious efforts by now. We would have had mayors and councils meeting daily to work toward this lofty goal. We would have read a flurry of letters to the editor calling on the two provinces to agree to erase the border. We might have even seen yard signs declaring 'One People, One Community.' None of this has happened, of course, which means the notion of fusing Flin Flon and Creighton lacks any genuine backing from the populace. So why is that? Why has such an on-the-face-of-it-obvious concept failed to gain traction across the many decades of our neighbourly existence? One obvious reason is that people view it as pie in the sky. Not only are we separate communities with separate governance structures, we are in separate provinces. A true merger would demand one of the provinces, most likely Saskatchewan, either cede territory or, at the very least, give up some governing authority. There are simply too many distinctions in how provinces prefer to operate. This is especially true at the moment with a left-leaning NDP in charge in Manitoba and the right-leaning Sask Party holding office in Saskatchewan. But beyond that, there are some very understandable concerns Creightonites would have about giving up their unique identity. Many of us have heard the stories of Flin Flonners falsely registering themselves as Saskatchewanians in order to enjoy cheaper vehicle insurance or broader medical coverage. Would those folks lose out in a merger? Sense of duty Then there's the sense of duty Creightonites may or may not feel toward funding Flin Flon services. Many Creightonites understand the need to help pay for the Aqua Centre, for instance, because this is a regional facility funded only by Flin Flon. But would they feel the same way if their taxes started paying to treat the drinking water of people in Flin Flon? Or to fix a leaky water pipe on Centennial Crescent? There is a certain sense of 'we're all in this together,' a sentiment often voiced by Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine, but surely it has its limits. Granted, an amalgamation of Flin Flon-Creighton would likely save money for taxpayers on both sides of the border. There would no longer be a need for two town halls, two fire departments, two recreation departments, two hockey rinks and so on. But even in areas where there is duplication, some Creighton residents remain proud of their independence from Flin Flon. And some Flin Flonners prefer our services to those offered in Creighton. A merger of Flin Flon and Creighton is clearly not going to happen any year (or decade) soon. It is far from clear whether a significant number of people even want such a thing to happen. But it sure is an intriguing topic, isn't it? Local Angle runs Fridays.
