What would a ward system look like in Aurora? Council votes to explore options

Yorkregion.com
May 22, 2019
Teresa Latchford

Aurora town council wants to get the ball rolling on converting to a ward system.

Currently, the town is governed by an at-large system, meaning all elected officials answer to all constituents as a whole. A ward system would break the town into specific areas and have one town council representative, meaning residents would elect one mayor and one councillor in the next election rather than one mayor and multiple councillors.

Despite the provincial review on upper and lower tier governance in York Region and a 2014 ballot question about changing the governance structure that resulted in 55 per cent of voters not supporting a change, town council has decided to decline the recommendation to hold off on exploring a ward system until the provincial review that could change the makeup of York Region government is complete, put forth by the town’s governance review committee and forge ahead.

Coun. Michael Thompson, along with many of his fellow councillors, believe the town needs to continue on with its business despite the ongoing review.

“We need to move the conversation from should or shouldn’t we (move to a ward system) to what does it look like and how do we do it,” Thompson added at a recent public meeting. “Fifty-five per cent said no on a ballot and we have that information but we still feel this is the right way to go.”

While there are still many municipalities in Ontario that still govern with an at-large system, it is more common to see ward governance systems in larger municipalities, according to University of Western Ontario political science professor Andrew Sancton.

“It’s not rocket science,” he said. “A ward system allows specific areas to be represented by a specific councillor.”

A ward system focuses on having one elected official representing a specific part of the municipality with the mayor and sometimes the deputy mayor or regional councillor looking out for the town’s best interest as a whole.

This type of system is especially important in municipalities that have diversity, especially ethnic diversity or a definite portion of the population of financially wealthy residents and the other portion living at or below the poverty line.

In some states in America, the at-large system has been deemed unconstitutional since some ethnic groups could not elect a representative that would best speak to their needs.

However, a ward system doesn’t come without the possibility of disputes over funding as all representatives try to get a piece of the pie for their own area.

While the at-large system does give residents access to more representatives, the elected officials are less accountable, bucks can be passed and it can be difficult for electors to sift through piles of candidates come election time.

Mayor Tom Mrakas stated publicly that after a blunt conversation with Newmarket-Aurora MPP Christine Elliott where he asked point blank if there will be an Aurora next year, he believes the town’s government and boundaries will remain intact.

“I think it is important for us to have the committee begin work on this right away, work with the consultant and bring it back to council for us to make a decision,” Mrakas said. “The review that the province is doing, for all intents and purposes, is not going to change any boundaries and there is going to be no amalgamation.”

He added that it is important to get things moving to meet timelines for the next municipal election in 2022.

Coun. Harold Kim, while in favour of moving forward with an electoral review, questioned why council was pushing for a ward system when the majority of voters said no in 2014.

“One of the things we looked at with this report is Aurora is the biggest community in Ontario that uses the at-large system to elect their representatives,” Town Clerk Mike de Rond replied. “We have heard from people who would like to see at least options for a ward system and it will give the public what that might look like.”

Council voted to move forward.