Campaign for fifth Vaughan councillor at York Region council doomed?

yorkregion.com
May 15, 2017
By Lisa Queen

Late last month, Vaughan resident Giovanni Moscardelli wrote a letter to the editor saying a campaign to give the city a fifth seat at regional council should be stopped in its tracks.

Moscardelli, who pointed out another councillor comes with a $300,000 annual price tag, may get his wish.

In April, regional councillors voted in favour of giving Vaughan a fifth seat after the 2018 municipal elections, arguing the city’s population of 335,700 is comparable to the 366,000 head count of Markham, which has five seats.

Representation by population is a cornerstone of Canadian democracy, regional councillors said.

But the province requires a majority of the region’s nine local councils representing a majority of York’s 1.2 million population support the plan.

Already, King Township has turned down the request and Richmond Hill didn’t take a position, which amounts to a vote against.

King Mayor Steve Pellegrini has concerns a fifth Vaughan councillor would strengthen the power of the southern three municipalities, which have already have 12 of the 20 regional seats.

Plus, regional council didn’t support King, Aurora, East Gwillimbury and Whitchurch-Stouffville each getting a second seat, he said.

Vaughan and Markham have voted in favour of the fifth Vaughan councillor.

But with other local councils dealing with the issue this month, the campaign for another politician may be in jeopardy, Regional Chair Wayne Emmerson said.

“I’ve heard rumblings of this happening,” he said, adding the region’s reluctance to change governance structures dates back to the 1990s.

“We always seem to struggle with putting an extra member or even members on here. So, I’m asking, you are leaders of this region of York. We have sent a memo to each municipality asking you to consider a member for Vaughan for the next election. So, I’m asking the leaders around this table to actually stand up and explain to your council what representation by population is all about.”

Both East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson and Georgina Mayor Margaret Quirk said they can’t predict how their councils will vote. Hackson said her councillors were also upset the town didn’t get a second seat at the region.