A year after N.B. municipal reform, new community names aren't sticking

John Craig likes to joke he's the only person who's been mayor of three different places in New Brunswick.

Formerly the mayor of St. Andrews and Blacks Harbour in the province's southwest, thanks to municipal government reform last year, he's now mayor of Eastern Charlotte.

But take a gander through his municipality, made up of former towns and villages, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a proud Eastern Charlotte-onian, if that even exists.

"All the names are still there, so if you're from St. George, you're still from St. George," Craig said with a chuckle.

"The whole region's Eastern Charlotte, but people will say 'What part of Eastern Charlotte?' and you'll say Bonny River, or Back Bay. 

"Those names will continue and they won't go away."

As of Jan. 1, 2023, the province slashed the number of local government entities from 340 to 77 municipalities and 12 rural districts. 

But with new municipalities came a need for new names, followed in some cases by some confusion.

Craig said Eastern Charlotte councillors were clear they wanted a unique name instead of simply being named after the region's largest town.

"It's hard to make everybody happy, but the idea is just don't pick a name that's already there," Craig said.

He said people are starting to recognize "Eastern Charlotte," and he tries to educate residents about what it means when he's out and about. He's begun a little game of sorts when stopping into seniors' centres.

"I say, 'If you're from Back Bay, stand up. If you're from Pennfield, stand up.' So all the people stand up, they still recognize the names, and they won't go away.

"But at the end of the day, they all recognize they're part of Eastern Charlotte as one group."

While places like Eastern Charlotte have the benefit of names linked to their county, which people are already familiar with, others started from scratch.