East Gwillimbury wants another representative on regional council

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 25, 2016
By Simon Martin

It’s no secret that East Gwillimbury council wants more representation at York Region Council. Just like municipal neighbours King, Aurora, and Stouffville, East Gwillimbury has one representative at the regional council table.

This has long been a bone of contention for the municipalities that are only represented by their mayors at the region. Their efforts to add one representative each were swatted away in 2013. But now East Gwillimbury is taking another kick at the can, as the region is in the midst of a review of regional council governance. As part of the review, the region is soliciting input from local municipalities.

The input coming from East Gwillimbury is loud and clear. “Perhaps now there is an appetite (to add councillors),” Mayor Virginia Hackson said.

Hackson is currently the town’s only representative on regional council. It’s a situation that Councillor James Young is familiar with. He served as the town’s regional representative for 10 years when he was mayor from 2000 to 2010. He thinks it’s high time East Gwillimbury had another representative.

“It’s an extra voice for the town at the regional table,” he said. “There is a lot of different facets in York and you need more than one person there to share the workload.”

So many regional initiatives have a huge impact on the life in East Gwillimbury, said Councillor Tara-Roy DiClemente. Whether it's the 2nd Concession or the proposed sewage plant, many new initiatives seen across town begin at the region.  “There is tremendous value to have another councillor there to represent that particular municipality,” said Roy-DiClemente.

The timing of the regional review dovetails nicely with the town as it is in the midst of its own electoral review, Hackson said.

The mayor hopes that how additional representatives are chosen will be addressed in the current electoral review.

In 1970, regional council had 17 members. Since that time two seats were added to each of Markham and Vaughan, bringing the total to 21. Nine of these members are the mayors from the local municipalities. There are four additional members from Markham, three from Vaughan, two from Richmond Hill and one from Georgina and Newmarket.