The mayor of Grand Bay-Westfield feels her first foray into municipal politics has been a successful one.
Brittany Merrifield has enjoyed learning new things, helping different causes, attending local events and visiting residents over the last year.
“I love trying to solve problems, even when I’m not always successful because I’m a helper and a problem solver at heart,” said Merrifield in a year-end interview. “This role allows me to do that in this town that I love.”
One of the milestones for the town was making strides toward Truth and Reconciliation for the Indigenous population. Merrifield said it was important for her to recognize because it was “the right thing to do.”
“For us to actually have an opportunity to make meaningful strides towards Truth and Reconciliation as a community is important for everyone,” she said. “Our Indigenous community is our community.”
Looking towards the future, Merrifield said the town wants to focus on education about local Wolastoqey culture. She said staff has worked through the Indigenous Canada course and set aside money in this year’s budget for intense and engaging learning opportunities.
Grand Bay-Westfield unveiled its new parks and recreation master plan in November, which will guide parks and recreation in the town for the next five to 10 years. Merrifield said it is focused on quality of life and population growth.
She sees it as a way to retain its population while also bringing in new people.
“What we’re doing to deliver in the future in terms of parks and recreation is pretty exciting to me,” said Merrifield.
But, with a 56 per cent cut in funding with the town’s budget, Merrifield said it was a huge exercise to figure out how their plans for 2022 would be affected by less revenue.
“The budget is a financial manifestation of our strategic plan, so that was exciting to start making our mark as a council on the community that we live in,” said Merrifield.
Another significant chapter for 2021 was the province’s local governance reform, which will see 75 per cent of the Westfield West local service district join the entire Town of Grand Bay-Westfield as one municipality.
“The white paper has such a wide-ranging and significant impact on how, what, and whom we will govern going forward,” said Merrifield.
Merrifield said it will take a lot of resources to navigate successfully, but she sees it as a positive thing to join the communities together.
Because of the change, the town will host a by-election in November 2022 for a ward councillor in Westfield West.
Aaron Sousa is a reporter for Acadia Broadcasting in Saint John.
