2015 Newsmakers: Chair Wayne Emmerson points to York Region’s successes in 2015

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 4, 2016
By Lisa Queen

With the real possibility of an elected regional chair on the near horizon, Wayne Emmerson may serve as York’s last chair selected only by a majority of mayors and regional councillors.

In the meantime, Emmerson, who opposes having the chair elected by voters - an issue coming before council in February - says he’s busy taking care of business.

Now, with a year as the region’s top political dog under his belt, he said he’s pleased with the accomplishments the region made in 2015 and is looking forward to continued progress in 2016.

“I think the first year went very well. I think we’ve all adjusted to a new chair because Bill (Fisch, who retired as regional chair in 2014 after serving in the role for 17 years) was here for a long time,” he said.

“I think council is really working well together and I’m hoping they say the same, which (is what I’m hearing) from them.”

Emmerson pointed to several achievements by the region in 2015, including moving for the first time to a four-year budget forecast that set out a financial and policy blueprint for the entire term of council.

The four-year forecast includes tax increases of 2.97 per cent for 2015 and 2.85 per cent for 2016, now approved, and projected tax hikes of 2.69 per cent in 2017 and 2.35 per cent in 2018.

“We set a four-year budget, which is a big undertaking to make sure we know the numbers, so we can continue with the programs we want to do and the infrastructure,” Emmerson said.

Council launched three task forces on transportation, seniors and broadband in 2015 to address top priorities facing the region, he said.

With residents identifying traffic congestion as their top concern, the region is investing more in roads than ever before, Emmerson said.

The region is spending $721 million on roads from 2015 to 2018.

Meanwhile, the region continues to invest in public transit, Emmerson said.

For example, the vivaNext bus rapidway on the section of Hwy. 7 from South Town Centre Boulevard to Warden Avenue in Markham opened in 2015, joining previous sections from South Town Centre to Warden, which opened in 2014, and from Hwy. 404 to Bayview Avenue, which opened in 2013.

Still under construction is the rapidway from Hwy. 400 to Bowes Road in Vaughan. Part of the section is on target to open next year.

Meanwhile, the rapidway on Davis Drive in Newmarket was completed in 2015, although some landscaping will take place in the spring. The rapidway for Yonge Street south of Davis moves from preliminary work to the heavy construction phase in 2016.

Social housing, another key priority identified by council, was addressed in part through the opening in the fall of Belinda’s Place in Newmarket, the region’s first and only shelter for homeless single women, Emmerson said.

The Richmond Hill Housing and Community Hub, the only facility of its kind in the region providing mixed-income housing and services for youths in the southern part of the region, is expected to open its doors to residents in February.

Emmerson admitted the region took heat from some municipalities for suddenly deferring a number of major sewer projects, especially from East Gwillimbury councillors who were upset with delays to the Upper York Sewage System.

The UYSS is needed to accommodate growth in East Gwillimbury, Newmarket and Aurora until 2031.

But the region is waiting for provincial approval for the project, Emmerson said.

“They were blaming us, but it’s the province that needs to tell us we can go ahead with it,” he said.

“It’s the most environmental sewage plant, if not in Canada, very definitely for Ontario. It’s state-of-the-art.”