Local service district
A local service district (LSD) is a unit of municipal government in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador which cover areas outside incorporated cities, towns and villages for provision of municipal services such as fire protection, garbage disposal and sewage.
New Brunswick
There are more than 250 Local Service Districts (LSDs), mostly organized around the parishes in the old County system, covering most of the land area of the province. Indian reserves, lands within CFB Gagetown, and Huskisson Parish are not part of any LSD. Elgin Centre LSD, a dis-incorporated Village, is an example which does not adhere to parish boundaries.
LSDs may have elected advisory committees that have no legislative or taxing authority, but work with the New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government to administer services usually provided by incorporated municipalities. The group, "Concerned Citizens Regarding Local Plans" have identified that less than one third of Local Service Districts have an advisory committee as of June, 2012. The particular services provided vary with the particular LSD; sometimes one or more areas within a LSD will have additional services, and often contribute tax dollars to adjacent municipal facilities.
Individual LSDs are not described in the Municipalities Act; instead, they are defined in Regulation 84-168 under the Municipalities Act, the Local Service Districts Regulation - Municipalities Act, which was filed July 16, 1984, and has been amended many times since.
Until it can be substantiated, it is only anecdotal that LSDs are being encouraged by the provincial government to adopt a form of local government known as a rural community under Bruce Fitch's Local Governance Action Plan. Rural Communities have more power than LSDs, but less than other municipalities; several parishes and incorporated villages have been part of these amalgamations. There are currently four Rural Communities: Beaubassin East, Campobello Island, Saint-André, and Upper Miramichi; the Village of Kedgwick and the LSD of Grimmer voted in 2011 to form a new Rural Community.
History
Local Service Districts came into being upon the disbanding of county wide local governance in the mid-1960s in response to the Byrne Commission's report and subsequent "equal opportunity" legislation.
See: List of local service districts in New Brunswick
See: List of Rural Communities in New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
In Newfoundland and Labrador, LSDs cover only areas where residents petition to create one. If one is formed, an advisory committee of five to seven members. All proposals put forth by LSD committees must be approved by the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
External links
- New Brunswick Local Service District Advisory Committees
- Newfoundland and Labrador Local Service District Regulations
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