38. The Government may, upon the application of the interested parties, erect village and rural municipalities or divide them.
The Minister of Municipal Affairs may, upon the application of the interested parties, annex such municipalities, in whole or in part, to other municipalities, whether of cities, towns, or villages.
Any alteration under this article may be granted if it is applied for by the majority of the owners of immovable property within the boundaries of the territory whereof the erection into a municipality, or the division, or the annexation to an existing municipality, is applied for, and if, after such change, each municipality still possesses the population, the value or the number of inhabited houses, required by article 39 or 40, as the case may be.
When the alterations applied for have the effect of reducing the number of the population or of the houses required by article 39 or 40, as the case may be, the majority of the owners of immovables situated within the territory remaining to the old municipality may consent to the above proceedings, but, in such case, the remaining territory must be annexed to an adjoining local municipality, in accordance with article 37.
This article shall also apply to a municipality whose boundaries have been determined by a special statute.
When a territory is annexed to a municipality which forms part of another county municipality, it shall be transferred to the county municipality which comprises the municipality which annexes it. However, any adjudication for non-payment of taxes, of immovables situated in the annexed territory and proceedings for the redemption of such immovables shall be effected by the secretary-treasurer of the county municipality who sold them.
M.C. 1916, a. 35; 1917-18, c. 81, s. 1; 1926, c. 34, s. 2; 1930, c. 103, s. 2; 1971, c. 87, s. 2; 1977, c. 53, s. 4.