Another merger – or amalgamation, if you prefer – has officially begun in our municipality. On New Year’s Day, Grand Erie Public Health kicked off its new beginning as the joining of forces between the former Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit and Brant County Health Unit.

The provincial government has given its blessing for the two former entities to begin operating as one. But is bigger necessarily better, one might ask?

The intent behind amalgamations such as this is to improve efficiency and effectiveness of services rendered with less government and at a cheaper cost. On paper, these mergers seem like sound propositions, at least to bureaucrats. As for the public at large, however, there are always concerns that smaller municipalities tend to lose their voice at a much bigger table.

In the past quarter-century, we’ve already seen the amalgamation of our local school boards and our municipal government. Once upon a time, Norfolk had its own public school........

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