Vaughan to gain fifth representative at York Region council table

Markham has five representatives, and Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua says his city ‘deserved an extra seat based on the fundamental principle of democracy’

Yorkregion.com
October 6, 2020
Dina Al-Shibeeb  Vaughan Citizen

Vaughan will have another seat at the York Region council table starting in 2022.

Regional council voted in favour of boosting the city's representation from four seats to five in late September.

The motion on the new bylaw passed easily, with only Aurora’s mayor Tom Mrakas and Markham’s deputy mayor and regional councillor Don Hamilton voting against it.

“The additional regional councillor has not been elected yet,” the City of Vaughan said, adding, “The new regional councillor will be decided in the 2022 municipal election.”

The move comes after Ontario decided to have a “top-down approach to changing the structure of regional governments,” said Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, who sits at the regional council alongside the city's three regional councillors, adding how this will “essentially” leave more decision making “in the hands of local governments to decide what is best for them.”

To do so, Bevilacqua brought forward a members’ resolution to review the regional council composition on March 11 and recommend “increasing the number of members representing the City of Vaughan from four to five,” the mayor said. “This resolution was carried unanimously by council.”

“Getting an extra seat for Vaughan in regional council was one of my objectives for this term and I am glad that the promise I made has been delivered,” he added.

For Bevilacqua, Vaughan “deserved an extra seat based on the fundamental principle of democracy, namely, representation by population.”

“One person, one vote. All votes should count equally,” he emphasized.

Markham, the most populous city in York Region with 342,970 people, has five seats while Vaughan, with a population of 323,281, according to 2017 census data, has four.

“We have a strong voice at the region and I am sure that in 2022, the new regional councillor will continue with the tradition of providing Vaughan citizens with exemplary representation.”