Governance review a 'farce' if it leads to higher costs: Newmarket resident

'Nobody wants higher taxes,' Unionville ratepayers' director says

Lisa Queen
May 14, 2019
Yorkregion.com

Are you happy with the way your local government works?

If yes, get over it.

While two provincial senior advisers didn’t tip their hand about what York Region and its nine municipalities will look like at the end of a governance review ordered by Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark, the status quo doesn’t appear to be an option.

“It’s unlikely this exercise is going to be carried through with no change,” adviser Michael Fenn said in Newmarket May 6 as part of a public consultation period in the eight regions and Simcoe County under review regarding governance, decision-making and service delivery.

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One size does not fit all, Fenn added, pointing out he and fellow adviser Ken Seiling will deliver their recommendations to Clark in early summer.

The possible scenarios in York Region are wide-ranging, from amalgamations involving the nine municipalities of Markham, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Whitchurch-Stouffville, King, Aurora, Newmarket, East Gwillimbury and Georgina, to cutting councillors to changing how services are delivered to having an elected regional chair to changing the way politicians are elected to office and more.

Given that Premier Doug Ford last summer slashed the size of Toronto council to 25 councillors from 47, it seems unlikely the region and the nine municipalities will continue with their current 78 local politicians.

Newmarket resident Gordon Prentice, Markham resident and Unionville Residents’ Association (URA) director Mike Gannon, and Katherine Grzejszczak, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 905 representing municipal workers in the region, were among the delegates making presentations to Fenn and Seiling.

Research shows amalgamations in Ontario and other provinces have resulted in cost increases rather than savings and service efficiencies, Prentice said.

“I suppose that gets to the heart of it as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

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“If the provincial government will go to all this expense appointing you special advisers to come forward with a new configuration for municipalities and regional government that ends up costing more and is less efficient, what a farce that would be.”

Municipal government should be as local as possible to encourage citizen involvement, Prentice said, adding agreements between the region’s northern six municipalities have resulted in more efficient service delivery.

He advocated for both an elected regional chair rather than the current system of having only 20 regional councillors choose whom they want, and for directly elected regional councillors who would be dedicated to regional concerns rather than being torn between regional and local councils.

The URA is urging the province to be guided by a number of principles as it considers the future of York Region and its municipalities.

Those include equal or lower property taxes, improving efficiencies without reducing services, fairness so financially prudent municipalities aren’t merged with fiscally weaker communities and ensuring any new municipalities have the chance to grow and become economically competitive.

“On the assumption you may be considering amalgamations, we share the usual concerns about such amalgamations, including … a lack of evidence that they actually lead to cost-savings,” Gannon said.

“We share concerns regarding impacts on taxes and/or services. Nobody wants higher taxes and nobody wants to see services impacted, especially our emergency services, of which we currently share delivery with the region. Any proposed downloading of services (by the provincial government) needs to be accompanied by the ability to raise the money.”

Grzejszczak said municipal workers already deliver a wide variety of services, such as library, social, recreation, housing, water, roads and sidewalks, public health, paramedic, long-term care and court services in an efficient and community-responsive way.

You can comment on the review by May 21 at ontario.ca/page/regional-government-review.