The Mayor of Brockville, Ont., wants his city to stand a little bigger on the provincial stage by adding the community's neighbours to their mix.

Jason Baker — the city's new mayor — is considering an amalgamation of Brockville and the rural Elizabethtown-Kitley Township that surrounds it.

He said the region needs more clout when pushing for investment and government attention.

"We don't have a whole lot of pull when we are a municipality of 20,000 going up against [one of] 500,000," he told CBC Radio's All In A Day

Baker said the region encompasses a community that should be speaking with a more unified voice.

Not so fast

Brant Burrow, the mayor of Elizabethtown-Kitley, said he sees the benefit of some co-operation, but he doesn't think amalgamation should be on the table anytime soon.

"[Amalgamation] is not going to happen this term, Brockville has not approached us to even consider it," he said.

Burrow and Baker have both spoken recently to each other's councils about the idea. Burrow said residents in his community are skeptical and he believes there will be an uphill battle to change minds.

"Mayor Baker and I have a challenge ahead of us to show it can be done right, but my goodness, we have to take our time," he said.

Burrow said the first steps would be more about co-operation, finding ways to work together including connecting some of the land in the township to services in Brockville.

"The municipalities have to demonstrate success," he said.

Baker said he understands there are lots of doubts and he hopes they can start working together to ease those concerns.

"[Burrow] has identified the low-hanging fruit in partnerships and I am willing to take a look at some of those things, to prove to both sets of citizens that there are advantages," he said.

He said he knows Brockville might have more to gain here, but he believes the township will also gain. He said he won't be mayor of this new larger community, so this isn't about building his own empire.

"If it isn't mutually beneficial I am not interested," he said. "We are not trying to take control. I am not trying to build a fiefdom."



