Saint Andrews looks to reduce number councillors ahead of election

Council in Saint Andrews is intending to start the process to reduce the number of councillors representing the municipality. 

Nine councillors sit on Saint Andrews council plus the mayor. According to Chief Administrative Officer Chris Spear the councillor to resident ratio is 275 to 350 to one.

“Comparing ourselves to other municipalities, we do have a large council,” he said. “There is no doubt about it.” 

Spear said in comparison to St. Stephen, who has a similar size council and is also considering downsizing, has about double the population. In comparison, Saint John, who has a population of more than 73,000 has 10 on municipal council. 

The proposal would reduce the number of councillors by three, with Chamcook losing one councillor and the old Saint Andrews ward losing two. This allows the council to maintain two-thirds suburban, one-third rural representation. 

Spear said in speaking with Local Government Minister Aaron Kennedy, there is an expectation multiple councils will also take a look at composition over the coming months ahead of the May 11, 2026 general election. 

During municipal reform, all the Saint Andrews councillors retained their positions. It added Coun. Annette Harland and Coun. Mark Bennett for Chamcook, and Coun. Darrell Weare for Bayside. 

“The facilitator said you will be over indexed, but that’s something you’ll have to figure out for the next election,” said Mayor Brad Henderson during the council meeting. “We’re at that time.” 

It is expected to save the taxpayers of Saint Andrews about $42,000. Henderson said he feels that Bayside should keep its unique councillor. 

Coun. Darrell Weare said Saint Andrews isn’t alone in its resident to councillor ratio. 

“When you look at the population here, and you look at other municipalities with similar populations, they’re in the same boat,” he said. “A very low number of residents per councillor … so for other municipalities this size, they’re facing the exact same problem.” 

Weare believes the advantage to having more councillors could allow staff to spread out responsibility on them in the form of committee work. 

He also said Bayside and Chamcook are not the same, with Bayside having a heavier industrial presence. 

Coun. Jamie Hirtle raised concern about the perceived impact a reduced council might have on influencing other levels of government. 

Spear assured the council that while many things depend on what government is elected, it tends to look at the community as a whole. He said much of it comes down to lobbying. 

“We’re children of the province, essentially, we exist because of their legislation.” 

He explained that the number of councillors likely won’t impact the relationship, but it is more about being an active voice with the various ministers on issues the community needs help with. 

Spear said staff should begin to prepare changes to the procedural bylaw or create a standalone bylaw to reflect the desired changes for council. 

Henderson said during an interview with reporters that this returns the council to a more appropriate ratio. 

“What this does is it gets it back into the traditional model, almost,” he said. “What is proposed, and it has a process to go through, is to go back to that six councilors plus a mayor.” 

He said there is a lot of work to being a councillor and discussions are often lengthy. 

“However, let’s be honest, if you’re having a council meeting and if everyone wants to speak three minutes on a motion, it’s 27 minutes right there,” he said. “And when you have 20 motions, it can make for a long night and you want to hear from everybody.” 

During an interview with reporters, Henderson was asked whether there were any announcements forthcoming about council seats, despite a few councillors being mainly virtual or absent in recent months. 

“There are some councillors that have spoken in the past that they do have some opportunities outside,” he said during the meeting on April 10. “They’re just waiting to see if those become a reality. So there could be announcements in the future.”

The following morning, on April 11, Henderson announced he would resign his seat on June 2, leaving around the four-year mark citing wanting to spend more time at home with his family. 

According to Elections New Brunswick, the deadline to resign a council seat to qualify for the byelection would have been Feb. 28. It means no byelection will be held for Henderson’s seat given the next general election would be within a year of the last byelection. 

Deputy Mayor Kate Akagi will assume the role of acting mayor for the remainder of the term.