Justin and Anuj sat down with Professor Doug Brown, a retired associate professor of political science at St. Francis Xavier University and expert on municipal governance, to understand how things went so wrong and what can be learned from this experience.

The construction projects, particularly work on Bay Street near the regional hospital, blocked key arteries into town, creating catastrophic ripple effects for emergency services, local businesses, doctor’s appointments, and daily commutes.

Professor Brown explained that the crisis exposed fundamental tensions in how municipal government is structured. The council—elected officials including the mayor and councillors—approved the projects back in September but handed implementation to staff led by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). As problems mounted, residents struggled to get the local government to respond.

Mayor Cameron’s comments at the emergency meeting held on December 11 highlighted this structural challenge: “We follow the government CAO system, and as such, council has one employee, the CAO. We cannot direct staff. We as individuals or collectively cannot direct our engineer to do things.” The council hadn’t reviewed the construction contracts in detail, which Brown suggested is normal for elected officials who shouldn’t be managing technical specifications.

However, when the crisis reached a tipping point, the council stepped in decisively, moving to an in-camera session and emerging with the order for overnight-only construction—demonstrating that elected officials can and should intervene when public safety and welfare are at stake.

Key Insights from Professor Doug Brown:

* The System Works—Until It Doesn’t: The separation between elected officials (council and mayor) and professional staff (CAO and employees) is fundamental to Canadian governance at all levels. Staff should be independent, nonpartisan, and professional, but continuous communication between both sides is essential.

* Small Town Reality: With Antigonish operating on roughly a $20 million annual budget, everyone knows everyone. This makes the theoretical separation between policy and administration harder to maintain but doesn’t change the underlying governance structure.

* Geography Should Have Been a Red Flag: Antigonish’s topography creates natural bottlenecks with only three or four entry points into town. The risks of closing multiple access points simultaneously should have been apparent even without formal studies.

* Timing Pressures Create Impossible Choices: Federal funding deadlines (money must be spent by March 31st) created pressure to proceed despite the timing. While extensions are possible, they require sign-offs and can delay projects by six months or more due to seasonal construction limitations.

* The Tipping Point Problem: Governments must recognize when complaints shift from “a few cranks” to genuine crisis. Leadership is tested by the ability to identify that moment and change course quickly.

* The Mayor’s Role in Crisis: In emergency situations, the mayor should be the public face and primary communicator, though always in close consultation with staff. This is standard practice.

* Provincial Resources Exist: The Department of Municipal Affairs and the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities offer consulting and training services that could help prevent such crises, though small municipalities may lack dedicated staff to access these resources.

* Future Challenges Loom: With aging infrastructure across Canada and more complex public-private partnerships on the horizon, municipalities need to build capacity for early public consultation and expect more such challenges ahead.

Professor Brown was careful to note that officials likely acted in good faith, making decisions under pressure about projects they deemed important. The lesson isn’t about assigning blame but about recognizing systemic weaknesses in communication and consultation that allowed a manageable situation to become a crisis.

The episode concluded on a hopeful note: councillors acknowledged the communication breakdown and committed to doing better. As Brown observed, even governments can learn from these types of crises—the key is maintaining open channels with both the public and staff, and recognizing when it’s time to change course.

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