A report that could dramatically change who is in charge of rural Prince Edward Island will be in the hands of the provincial cabinet today.
Premier Robert Ghiz received the Report on Land and Local Governance days before Christmas.
Cabinet is expected to decide which recommendations it will proceed with. The report will then be made public on Thursday.
The details of the report are being kept confidential but it is expected it will deal with the number of small rural municipalities across the Island.
There are currently 75 municipalities in P.E.I. The Island population is about 141,000. Nearby Nova Scotia, with a population of more than 940,000, only has 55 municipalities.
Despite the high number of Island municipalities, 70 per cent of the Island's land base is unincorporated.
Bruce MacDougall, president of the Federation of Prince Edward Island Municipalities, says Island municipalities have been waiting a long time for the report and they hope the report's recommendations are acted upon immediately.
MacDougall said some Island communities are too small to even take advantage of infrastructure programs. That, he said, has to change.
The federation also wants full incorporation of all Island municipalities.
The four largest municipalities also want the province to return to tax credits instead of grants for funding.
"It's way outdated," said MacDougall, speaking of the Island's municipal framework. "We're looking forward to the report and asking all parties to support the report."
This report is being seen as a major modernization of the Island's rural municipalities not unlike what faced the province's urban centres in 1994.
Sixteen years ago amalgamation was forced on the Island's four largest municipalities including Charlottetown, Summerside, Stratford and Cornwall.
The Island's smaller municipalities were not touched in that round of amalgamation.
Judge Ralph C. Thompson, a retired provincial court judge, headed the commission. He was appointed in November 2008.
It was asked to look at issues related to land use including planning, development and protection of land, water and other resources. The commission's mandate also included municipal issues like the impact of development just outside municipal borders, the future of unincorporated areas and revenue sharing with the province.
Communities Minister Carolyn Bertram declined to comment on the report Monday.
Montague Mayor Richard Collins said he hopes the report will finally see his community grow. He said it's ridiculous for the Town of Montague and the communities of Brudenell and Lower Montague to exist in a five-square-mile radius and be represented by more than 20 councillors.
"(The report) has to be implemented right away and the politics has to be taken out of it," Collins said.
In May, Thompson said planning what happens to the Island's land is like planting trees.
"The best time to do it was 20 years ago," he said. "The next best time to do it is now."
Ghiz announced the idea of a Commissioner of Land and Local Governance in his 2008 throne speech.
"Municipal and land use reform appears to follow cycles, with greater or lesser degrees of change at any given point," the province said in a statement before Christmas.
"It is time once again to take a comprehensive look at the structures that govern the day-to-day life of Island residents, guide our local municipal officials, and direct our use of the land."
Objectives:
- The commissioner shall identify concerns and recommend changes in the areas of the provincial approach to land use planning, municipal structures and municipal governance, in order to better protect our land and water resources, promote strong and vibrant local governments, and enable the province to respond to issues such as climate change, viewscape protection, and urban-rural conflicts.
- The commissioner shall develop potential action plans and options, which would lead, if adopted by government, to a new model of land use planning for the province within the next five to seven years and recommendations on possible future municipal structures and governance, with emphasis on public information dissemination and public engagement.
