Amalgamation was among the topics up for discussion as the two mayoral candidates in Riverview – Andrew LeBlanc and Tammy Rampersaud – took part in a debate.
Andrew LeBlanc said when you talk about local government reform like the province is now doing, the “elephant in the room” becomes amalgamation.
“We get that question constantly and to be honest, I’m not in favour of amalgamation. It’s not what our residents are telling us that they want. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of Riverview either,” he noted.
Tammy Rampersaud said the province has not clearly indicated what municipal reform is going to look like yet.
“But I’m seeing a very heavy weight put on regional service commissions for example. So that will need to be looked at because for us, our regional service commission works very well together (with us),” she said.
The future of economic development in Riverview was another issue debated by the candidates.
The town has recently been having more open discussions with developers according to Rampersaud.
“We’ve had a number of folks wanting to downsize and move into apartment buildings. We’ve never had in town, underground parking for example, and we were finding that we were losing a lot of our seniors looking for that over to Moncton and Dieppe,” she said.
Andrew LeBlanc says he favours mixed-used developments such as lower level retail and upper level residential.
He doesn’t see big box stores – such as ones in Moncton – as being part of the town’s future.
“Residents are telling me that is not what they see for our town and that’s not what I see. We need to be open to commercial development,” he said.
Both Rampersaud and LeBlanc are sitting town councillors.
The mayoral debate was hosted by the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton and is airing this week on Rogers TV.
Municipal elections will be held on May 10 but voters can also cast ballots at local returning offices.