Doug Ford shoots down mayor’s idea of amalgamating municipalities in York Region

Just as quickly as the idea was proposed, it was quashed by the premier on Thursday.

Thestar.com, Cp24.com, Toronto,citynews.ca, Winnipegfreepress.com, Cbc.ca
June 16, 2023

Don’t hold your breath for the creation of a City of York.

Just as quickly as the idea was proposed for an amalgamated York Region, it was quashed by the premier on Thursday.

A day earlier, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti raised eyebrows, and questions, when he issued a statement asking the province to consider amalgamating the nine municipalities of York Region following a regional governance review -- and failed to consult with neighbouring mayors beforehand.

But Premier Doug Ford said he was not in favour of unified York Region, saying other mayors in the area aren’t on board with Markham’s marriage proposal.

“This is all up to the mayors -- it’s not up to one mayor to go out there and say you want to build your empire,” Ford said in response to reporters’ questions following an unrelated announcement in Whitby.

One mayor is in favour of the idea, he added. “We listen to the people, we listen to all the mayors and so we aren’t doing it.”

Scarpitti did not respond to questions about whether he would continue to advocate for this option, but previously told the Star he hoped to see substantial change after the upcoming provincial review.

“The province has taken bold steps restructuring the city of Toronto council and Peel Region and should be doing the same in York Region,” said Scarpitti. “I hope when the facilitator embarks on their mandate for York Region, they will come forward with some changes and not just leave the status quo in place.”

The provincial government is in process of selecting regional facilitators to conduct a review of municipal governance for the upper-tier municipalities of York, Durham, Halton, Niagara, Simcoe and Waterloo.

A similar exercise took place in 2018, but the province did not release the report from the review.

The reviews were announced at the same time the province announced the dissolution of Peel Region into three stand-alone municipalities of Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon.

While Mississauga had long championed independence, the decision was made without consultation with Peel residents or with the support of the mayors of Caledon and Brampton.

Since then, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown has expressed concerns about the potential financial impact to his residents as services, programs and assets are divided between the three cities.

The province has promised the cities will be supported through the separation, but the financial details are to be sorted out by a five-person transition team the province has yet to announce.

In Whitby, Ford and Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney announced another step toward extending GO train service east.

The province has pledged $730 million to run the Lakeshore East GO all the way to Bowmanville.