to provide for the establishment of municipal governments in the counties. Municipal incorporation transferred to elected municipal or county councils most of the legislative and executive authority formerly vested in the Quarter Sessions – the form of local administration which had previously dominated Loyalist New Brunswick. The law was permissive and did not compel incorporation. Upon the petition of at least fifty taxpayers in a county, the sheriff would convene public meetings of households and ratepayers in the county's parishes. If two thirds of those present and voting at such meetings favoured incorporation, an application would then be entertained by the Provincial government. While many counties including Carleton, York, and Sunbury took advantage of the opportunity, Kings County was not incorporated until a general act requiring all counties to incorporate received majority assent in the legislature in 1877. The Act of 1877 remained the basis for rural local government in New Brunswick until 1966. The basic unit for county electoral purposes was the parish with two councillors generally elected for each parish. County elections were held at various times of the year and councillors retained office for varying periods of time. The area now encompassed by the Town of Grand Bay-Westfield was at this point part of the larger Westfield Parish. Local Improvement Districts As urban and suburban populations began to expand on the outskirts of more established urban centres, many areas began demanding more specialized and localized service provision than could be delivered by county governments. The 1945 Local Improvement Districts Act facilitated incorporation for limited municipal purposes in many centres, including the communities of Westfield and Pamdenec. Pamdenec was established as a Local Improvement District on January 6, 1948. The boundaries of the District were later altered in 1952, and additional services were added in 1965. Westfield was established as a Local Improvement District on 23 October 1952. The services offered by the Westfield Local Improvement District were altered twice in 1957 and 1959. Equal Opportunity Program The first incorporated villages in the area now incorporated as Grand Bay-Westfield were created during the Equal Opportunity Program after the abolition of county government. The Villages of Pamdenec and Westfield incorporated in 1966. In 1972, the Village of Westfield absorbed the neighbourhoods of Lingley, Sagwa, and Nerepis. Pamdenec absorbed the neighbourhoods of Grand Bay, Epworth Park, and Ingleside to become the Village of Grand Bay in 1973. In 1988, Grand