Elected chairs risk politicizing GTA regional councils, critics say

Durham joins Halton in electing its chair this year - a move some hail as good for democracy and others warn will politicize the post too much.

Toronto Star
January 20, 2014
By Marco Chown Oved

When municipal electors across the province head to the polls this October to vote for council and mayor, people in Durham will have an extra box to tick.

For the first time, they’ll be electing the chair of their regional council - an extra layer of government that co-ordinates services between smaller suburban municipalities. But the current appointed chair fears that what appears to be a victory for democracy will actually bring more acrimony to the post and stifle good decision-making.

“It’s a totally different position once you become elected,” said Roger Anderson, who has been the appointed chair of Durham Region Council since 1997. “Whoever comes in and sits in that chair will have a pretty solid, strong mandate.”

There will be times, Anderson said, when the chair ends up “at odds with council.”

Though many people don’t realize it, Anderson said, elected regional chairs tend to become de facto super-mayors. In Durham, the chair presides over an area that spans six federal and provincial ridings, with a bigger population than Hamilton.

Anderson, who hasn’t declared whether he will run for his own job, says the difference is that an appointed chair is a managerial position: the chair doesn’t vote (except when there’s a tie) and is responsible for making sure rules are followed and the council’s decisions are implemented. Elected chairs, on the other hand, have a popular mandate that could clash with the priorities of the mayors they are supposed to work alongside, he said.

When Durham elects its chair later this year, it will be the second of the four GTA regions to make the switch, along with Halton Region. The appointment system has been in place since the regions were established in the 1970s. Those who have fought for more direct democracy say the tide is turning.

“It comes down to basic principles of democracy,” said Ajax Mayor Steve Parish, who lobbied for years for an elected chair in Durham. “In Durham Region, over half the taxes go to the regional level of government, and (people) really don’t have a say in how that money is spent unless they can decide on the platform of the regional chair.”

Parish rejects the argument that appointed chairs are apolitical.

“Most regional chairs have a caucus of supporters on council that they lobby and keep onside to get their agenda through council, just like a mayor does, he said. “To say that it would politicize a position that’s non-political is simply false.”

Halton has the most experience with an elected chair. It was the first to change the system, in 2000.

Gary Carr, who has been Halton’s elected regional chair since 2006 and is running for a third term this year, says popular election keeps him accountable to citizens instead of politicians.

“If I was appointed by the regional council, they would be my boss instead of the people of Halton,” he said.

Carr dismisses the idea that being elected makes it harder to work with the mayors on regional council.

“It’s an excuse for people who don’t want democracy,” he said. “The way it’s set up is exactly the same as the mayor system (in Toronto). ... It brings accountability: if you don’t like what somebody’s doing, you can vote them out.”

Peel and York regions have both studied the idea of switching to elected chairs, but chose to stick with the status quo. Recent retirement announcements by both of the longtime chairs have provided an opportunity to revisit the issue, but the departing chairs aren’t enthusiastic.

“The system we have now has worked very well for York Region,” said Bill Fisch, who is closing out his 17th year as regional chair. “It assures that all the municipalities across our region are treated fairly.”

Fisch’s fear is that smaller municipalities will get bulldozed by bigger ones.

“This is natural in politics: If you have a great deal of support from voters in one area, then you have to tend to support those voters that supported you ... and that’s very hazardous,” he said.

Emil Kolb, who has sat as chair of Peel Region Council for 23 years, also defends the appointment system. An elected chair could bring a more divisive tone to the post, he said.

“Sometimes some people let politics get in the way,” he said. “My feeling is that too often there is too much party politics in the thinking, instead of thinking of what’s the best for the people.”

Durham chair Robert Anderson took that one step further, suggesting that an elected chair could one day decide he or she doesn’t need the mayors anymore - starting the regions down the path that took Metro Toronto to amalgamation.