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ey words to look for in the debate over the merging of the three Ste- Agathes are "regroupement" and "fusion". The idea of putting the three municipalities back together has been around for some time. During each of the last three Ste-Agathe-des-Monts municipal elections it has been discussed. The three were once all a part of the parish of Ste-Agathe. It was created on January 1, 1863 when the area was officially recognised as a region distinct from Ste-Adele. Shortly after its creation, parts of the townships of Howard, Doncaster and Wexford were annexed to the new municipality. Originally named after the lake, it was called alternately Lac des Sables and Canton Beresford, but since it included parts of Morin and present-day Ivry, its name was officially changed to the less specific Municipality of the Parish of Ste-Agathe-des-Monts on March 25, 1885.

In 1896 the Municipal Corporation of Ste-Agathe (La municipalité du village de Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts) broke away from the Parish and comprised only parts of the second, third and fourth ranges of Beresford (those parts that surround the lake). Subsequently Ivry broke away in 1912, Val David in 1921 and Ste-Agathe-South in 1964. In each case the new municipalities were set up to simplify and localise administration. Today, the argument in favour of fusion is based on the provincial government's costs and on the need for co-ordinated urban planning and sharing of services.

While seventy percent of Quebeckers live in 8.5% of the towns, forty-three percent of the municipalities have less than 1000 people. More importantly to the government, the smaller the municipality, the greater the percentage of its budget is paid by the provincial government. On average, the province funds 4.75% of municipal budgets. For centres of 10,000 people and more, the cost is 2.3% and dropping. The figures climb above 33.3% for villages and parishes of less than 1000. At the same time, costs of the urban infrastructure are borne by the taxpayers in the towns even though the residents of the villages and parishes that surround them benefit from the services. The obvious examples of this in Ste-Agathe are the schools and churches. There are five public schools and seven congregations that hold property in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts. As well, the hospital, sports arena and information offices as well as the government buildings and post office are in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts. While the costs of these commonly used services and their road networks are subject to negotiated understandings between the municipal councils, there is no enforcement possible should the negotiations be judged unfair by one of the parties.

As an example of an issue crying out for co-ordinated planning, there is a large excavation to the west of the main road running through Ste-Agathe- South which is intended for a super mall. Should such a mall be built, Ste- Agathe-des-Monts will not be consulted. It is clear that the scale of the project would have a major impact on the latter municipality and its infrastructures, yet it will run the risk of losing its commercial district. Should the towns be fused, a mall of this scale could be evaluated in terms of its impact on the ability of the whole region to withstand it and equitable tax distribution would be possible.

Ste-Agathe-des-Monts business owners have been encouraging the renovation and restoration of their buildings with a common theme of respect for our architectural history. The city has commissioned a large study to encourage this initiative and hopes to be able to provide guidance to property owners who wish to develop this theme. It has already encouraged a new respect for our history and our architecture. Ste-Agathe-South, by contrast, owns the major artery of entry to the city and is the location of most of the fast- food outlets and service stations.

On November 14, 1996, all three municipalities were invited to present briefs to the Commission de consultation sur le regroupement. Predictably, the brief presented by Ste-Agathe-des-Monts toed the line while the other two voiced objections. In Ste-Agathe-North the council was only eleven days old and can be forgiven for not having developed clear arguments other than to point out that Ivry should also be involved in the discussions. The government listened at least to that point and in early March added Ivry to the list. Ste-Agathe-South's main thrust was that Ste-Agathe-des-Mont's collective agreements are out of control and that it should get its own fiscal affairs in order before the discussion can progress further.

The Commission has identified 416 municipalities in the province that it feels should be merged. Of these, 32 are in the Laurentians and the projection is that they would become 14 municipalities. At this stage, the government has offered to pay for the cost of a study for any municipality that accepts to undertake it before January 1, 1999. Should a municipality not wish to do the study in cooperation with the Commission, it will still receive half the cost for a study of the town's own choosing. The municipalities that merge before this date will receive a per capita grant of $100. This is an existing programme with a provision that they would receive only half that amount if they merge after that date.

There is another grant that assures merged municipalities the same financial support as they would otherwise have had. It will continue for between five and eight years. As well, thirty-six million dollars will be ready to help those towns that succeed in presenting a proposal for merger within the deadline to combine their infrastructures, provided that the merger takes place.

Over all, the Commission has been mandated to offer incentives, but it is hard to imagine that incentives will succeed. As Mayor Circé of Ste-Agathe- South pointed out, if his administration had gone into an election campaign favouring this issue last fall, they would have been swept from office.

It is difficult at this point to take an informed position. While the merger rules are very flexible, even allowing for each existing municipality to remain responsible for its own debts, priorities like those pertaining to collective agreements with employees and even the choice of experts to undertake the study stand in the way. Most of the public reaction has been concerned with unfounded fears of the urbanisation of rural areas, with a favourite bugaboo being that sidewalks aren't needed in Lac Quenouilles. These are neighbourhood issues, and even the densely populated areas of Ste-Agathe-des-Monts cannot be obliged to have sidewalks if the neighbourhood concerned votes down the initiative. Even the current municipality cannot oblige residents of a neighbourhood to accept modifications to the infrastructure if the residents object. What needs to be defined is what the nature of the different neighbourhoods would be after merger. These and other criteria need to be examined in the course of the study. For example, the committee is acknowledging that where a bilingual municipality is being forced to merge, thereby losing its non- French majority, it will be protected anyway. Since English-speaking property owners form such a significant proportion of our recreational homes, we as taxpayers should be asking our councillors to try to obtain bilingual recognition for certain neighbourhoods, if not the whole municipality. This is not far-fetched. I feel it would happen if enough of us make our feelings known. Some of the towns are just waiting for this kind of pressure from the taxpayers. For example St-Adolphe is sending out its information bilingually even though it does not have the official status, and both Ste-Agathe-des-Monts and Val David offer English communication as an option on their telephone systems.

As long as the government limits the Commission's power to that of incentives, it is improbable that fusion will ever succeed. Should it decide that the mergers will be forced on the towns by a certain date, then perhaps the municipalities will work seriously together to make the best deal in an inevitable merger. It is only the will of the provincial government that can determine the outcome.

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