Delegates hold off on ASB decision

It’s too early to make a call–either way–on forming an area services board (ASB), delegates agreed Saturday at the Rainy River District Municipal Association’s annual meeting.
Fort Frances council sent a resolution to the RRDMA asking it to suspend “indefinitely” the application it had made last year to form an ASB.
“[Council] felt the District Social Services Administration Board at the time was running off in all directions and had no accountability,” Mayor Glenn Witherspoon said, explaining why Fort Frances did an about-face on the ASB issue.
“I applaud my colleagues in Fort Frances for putting the brakes on this for now but I don’t think we should throw it out all together,” he added, saying the district should “walk into this thing slowly,” with a date of 2001 or 2002 in mind.
Pat Giles, clerk for Dawson and Lake of the Woods townships, noted even if Fort Frances didn’t withdraw its support for forming an ASB now, only five other municipalities indicated support for it at their last meeting.
“We need a double majority there to proceed,” Giles said.
Mayor Gordon Armstrong of Rainy River noted proceeding with an ASB right now would be “putting the cart before the horse,” adding they should let the DSSAB “carry on with what they have and get their programs under their belt.”
But he also warned delegates not to let the subject slide completely.
“If we put our head in the sand and say we’re not going that way ever, we might get an awful surprise,” Mayor Armstrong said. “We still need to look down the road and say that is where we’re likely to end up.”
Delegates from the unincorporated areas remained adamantly against an ASB, though. One delegate noted there’s still no election roll for the unincorporated areas, nor has the provincial land tax reform been completed.
“Those living in the unincorporated [areas] know you haven’t got your school tax for 1999 yet,” he said. “We will continue to vote against an ASB until the province gets its act together.”
But La Vallee delegate Tom Morrish pointed out to the unincorporated delegates they weren’t voting to get into an ASB right now; rather, deciding to move towards one.
Emily Watson, RRDMA president and newly-elected DSSAB chair, said it still would take some time to form an ASB even if the motion to start one now was passed.
“The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines said you can’t just go from a DSSAB to an ASB,” she said. “It is not an overnight process. There are several steps.”