by Things got heated at this morning’s Regional Council meeting in a discussion about the CBRM’s dispute with the province’s Progressive Conservative government over the policing of highways.
The provincial Justice Department says policing of roads within the CBRM is not a provincial responsibility, while Mayor Amanda McDougall-Merrill says the province is downloading a million dollars in costs to the municipality.
Councillor Steve Gillespie was briefly warned by McDougall-Merrill when the issue led him to use some strong language to describe local PC MLA’s.
Gillespie later apologized for the remark.
A number of other councillors also expressed frustration with the province over the dispute at today’s meeting.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Liberals are backing the municipality, saying the dispute is the latest example of the province trying to download its responsibility to municipalities.
The roads affected include the 125 Sydney Bypass, the 105 Trans Canada, Route 4 and Prince Mine Road.