Is the Region of Halton about to disappear: why is that a bad idea?

News 100 redBy Staff

April 4th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Provincial government announced in January that there would be a review of eight regional municipalities (including Halton), Simcoe County and their lower-tier municipalities to ensure they are working effectively and efficiently, and to assess whether the two-tier structures should continue or whether amalgamations are recommended.

collage all four

Is this the future for the four municipalities that make up the Region of Halton? Where are the benefits?

A potential outcome is the amalgamation of Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills into the City of Halton.

There are people in Oakville and Burlington who aren’t all that keen on seeing this happen and have organized “We Love …” groups in Oakville and are in the process of putting one together in Burlington. They are looking for your support.

We Love Burlington – STOP Amalgamation has created a mailing list – touch base with them at weloveburlingtonasis@gmail.com.

They are a group of Burlington residents concerned about the Province of Ontario’s regional government review and the distinct possibility of the amalgamation of Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills into the City of Halton.

They are Oakville counterparts (We Love Oakville – STOP Amalgamation) who are a strong citizen-led group focused on the same issue and with identical goals. The Burlington “chapter” has just been formed but, with the help of our Oakville colleagues, has hit the ground running. We just opened our Facebook page and already we have 150 followers, 675 page views and we have reached almost 2,500 people.

Burlington

What would Burlington be in the City of Halton?

We have a twitter account WeLoveBurlington, and will be regularly issuing email updates such as this. Unfortunately, we have limited time, limited resources and need your help and support. For a start:

• please order a lawn sign by responding to this email with your full contact particulars (direct donations are most welcome to defray our costs). Signs will be available soon.

• write a letter to our MPPs Jane McKenna and Effie Triantafilopoulos, with copies to Premier Doug explaining why you are against amalgamation.

• watch and “like” our Facebook page for regular updates and news: https://www.facebook.com/weloveburlingtonstopamalgamation/

• share our posts with your friends and colleagues

oakville

Would Oakville become the “rich” part of the city of Halton?

The Burlington group will be meeting with Ms. Jane McKenna, Burlington’s MPP at Queen’s Park on April 18. Ms. McKenna was unable to meet with us at her constituency office until late June, so we will travel to Queen’s Park instead. We will also seek a meeting with Oakville/North Burlington MPP Ms. Effie Triantafilopoulos.

It is worthwhile to note that Ms. Triantafilopoulos has already met, together with Oakville MPP Mr. Stephen Crawford, with the We Love Oakville group.

Stop Burlington

Most people don’t even know amalgamation talks are taking place – order a lawn sign – help spread the word.

We Love Burlington has registered to delegate to the regional government review advisors on May 17th at the Halton Regional Meeting being held specifically for consultation on the review.

Halton Hills

Halton Hills, the smallest of the four municipalities has significant potential for growth in the next decade.

On February 13, Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr sent a letter to Premier Ford and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, signed by all four Halton Mayors declaring “A change to the structure in Halton by the Province would be disruptive and wasteful given the Province would be trying to fix something that is not broken.”

On February 25, Burlington City Council unanimously passed a resolution endorsing the current two-tier municipal government model in Halton and stating that Burlington residents value the distinct identity of their community and do not wish have their voices diluted within a larger and less directly accountable municipal governance structure. The other three Halton mayors passed similar resolutions.

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Milton was at one point the fastest growing municipality in the province -probably the country – that was until Premier Ford pulled the plug on the idea of a university setting up shop in the town.

Many believe that the review process is also seriously flawed. There is a lack of transparency with respect to the Province’s mandate and intentions; the study involves two individuals looking at 82 municipalities with vastly different circumstances, issues and challenges, in a period of only six months, which does not allow for a fulsome and detailed inquiry, assessment and analysis; and there is a lack of meaningful public consultation. A survey the Province has prepared does not go nearly far enough to inform the public and gather their feedback.

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9 comments to Is the Region of Halton about to disappear: why is that a bad idea?

  • Bill

    Let’s look at history – regional government was brought in nearly fifty years ago, but it was forced on us with no one (but the province) wanting it. Prior to 1974 Burlington provided most services that region is responsible for now, and did it at a lower cost than any of its neighbouring communities. It has cost taxpayers to sustain two levels of municipal government, while areas in the province that did not have regional governments had tax increases at half the increases that happened here. Let’s look at the present – we have duplication of services between local and regional governments, in planning, roads, legal services, clerks, inspectors, business development, politicians, etc. The cost to taxpayers, means no economies of scale because we pay for an unnecessary level of government. Let’s look at the future – the provincial government is going to do something after this review. The rumour is forced amalgamation will be their direction, but it has proven to be unsuccessful in every example (Sudbury, Ottawa, Hamilton, Chatham-Kent). The only way to save taxpayers from paying for this, is to push for the elimination of the regional level of government and keep the more efficient, economical, and effective local governments.

  • Steve W

    I suspect that already a developer has his eyes on the land that Burlington City Hall sits on. I fear the City of Halton is a done deal.

  • Lynn Crosby

    One of the main concerns with this is the process itself. This is a flawed, rushed process without meaningful public consultation – it is the residents and taxpayers who will bear the costs of any structural changes. The Government’s survey does not in any way provide meaningful public input. There is a lack of transparency about the mandate and the Province’s intentions, and an unrealistic timetable of six months for two people to assess 82 municipalities with vastly different circumstances, issues and challenges. There is also a lack of time to do the detailed inquiry, assessments and analysis required for decisions of this importance – the Province should not be able to unilaterally impose structural changes, such as an amalgamation, on regional and municipal governments based on this review.

    The province should have to present their case to the taxpayers as to why the benefits of any structural change would outweigh the costs and risks involved.

  • Blair Smith

    The Regional Government Review or has been sold under the rationale that smaller government will mean economies of scale, tax reductions and general operational efficiencies. While improvements can always be made and while opportunities for benefit exist in more broadly scoping some services, the Fraser Institute Report (Lydia Miljan and Zachary Spicer) rather strongly disputes any form of overall benefit. They state “We find significant increases in property taxes, compensation for municipal employees, and long-term debt in both amalgamated and unamalgamated communities, suggesting there was no tangible financial benefit from amalgamation. In fact, many of the claims put forward by those favouring consolidation failed to materialize. In most of our cases, the per-household municipal tax burden increased. We also find that spending on certain services and remuneration also increased significantly”. People need to quickly become aware and challenge an imposed process that is fundamentally flawed and without a strong, citizen-focused voice.

  • Josie

    We all want different things from our local governments, therefore our local values are best served within separate municipalities. As amalgamation occurs, service provision inevitable rises to meet different priorities, which increases cost. At the same time, government becomes more distant from the individual voter which also means that it’s harder for a voter to influence policy. Amalgamations tend to be the dreams of planners, while the average citizen understands the benefits of local government.

  • Joe Gaetan

    I hope all the elected officials from the Region, Burlington, Oakville etc. have a strategy and a business case to support the status quo.
    I downloaded the provincial questionnaire and I doubt the average citizen including myself has the necessary information to answer the questions in a way that the province would give the answers the required weight. The region and communities affected do though. So, the question to them is, are you actively working on a justification report that supports the status quo, or are you relying on a, we don’t like it so don’t do it approach?
    I support the grass roots STOP the Amalgamation effort and I certainly would not like to see it happen.
    However, we are naïve to think that a pep rally or petition will do the trick. My take is the province is serious about amalgamation and are looking for economies of scale, cost control, and elimination of duplicate overhead as a start point.

    • Keith

      it seemed as though that survey was put out to tick a box regarding community consultation more than actually obtain input.

  • Steve

    Perhaps the amalgamation is a better why to go than the future possibility of Burlington being swallowed up by, Hamilton, and Oakville by, Mississauga.

    • Gary Scobie

      Understand what you are saying Steve, but why not stick with what we know (a well-functioning regional setup) and defend it to the hilt rather than expend effort on what-if scenarios that seem to justify choosing a poor solution just so we won’t get an even worse solution?