Oakville is the only of Halton's four municipalities that would like to move to a single-tier model of government.
Burlington and Halton Region itself would prefer to continue, with some modifications, with the current two-tier system.
That’s the message they delivered Thursday (Jan. 11) to the provincial government’s standing committee that’s overseeing a review of regional governance. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is touring Ontario with the study.
While Milton and Halton Hills didn't make presentation to the committee, those municipalities have stated they prefer to keep the regional government the way it is, and that duplications between the local and regional tiers need to be eliminated.
The standing committee is made up of members from the Progressive Conservatives, NDP and Liberals and chaired by PC MPP Laurie Scott.
Although it’s a review of regional governance, the resounding theme of the commentary received was that municipalities need more funds from the provincial and federal governments to achieve their housing goals. Currently, that rapid growth is placing significant pressure on municipalities struggling to pay for the infrastructure to make it happen.
“We remain opposed to a mega-city of Halton,” said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, who added that the city is “open to finding service enhancements and better value for residents, particularly through eliminating any duplication or redundancy" that exists between municipal and regional services.
“Local government is the closest to the people and we understand the needs of our communities best,” she said. “Imposed solutions from the Province without consultation with local governments isn’t beneficial.”
She suggested roads, transportation, traffic control, stormwater management, culture, recreation and heritage, drainage and flood control, and economic development could be assumed by the city as it can deliver those services faster and better by eliminating duplication and speeding up approvals for housing.
But that still doesn’t work for wastewater infrastructure funding, she said, and pleaded with the committee to do something about it.
“You can’t sell a house without working sinks and toilets," she said. "We have several major parcels of land in Burlington that could deliver thousands of housing units, but don’t currently have any underground servicing infrastructure, and the servicing required would cost in the tens of thousands of dollars per unit – funds that development charges or tax dollars simply can’t cover alone.”
Meed Ward said that regardless of who pays for those services, the cost is something that neither the city nor the Region could afford.
She said it’s the largest impediment to the delivery of "more homes built faster” - the Province's stated goal.
Burlington Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman, in his characteristically firm manner, told the committee there’s significant duplication of work between Halton and Burlington.
“Why is that? Why didn’t we actually plan our practices holistically instead of having disconnects?” he said. “I don’t even think we have design processes in government."
He also said there’s inadequate focus on the future.
“We’re thinking about the last five years or the next five years, but now we’re talking about millions of people coming in the next 30 years,” he said, adding it’s hard to get “our brains around redesigns of government and the infrastructure we need to make that happen. We’re not there, we have lack of clarity and purpose."
Ward 3 councillor Rory Nisan also presented on behalf of Burlington, and he questioned where his three-year-old son is going to live someday.
“How is my son going to afford a place? How far away will he have to move? Will we have to move to be close to him and his family some day? Eventually he will need his own place. He deserves his own future.
“We are all here today because we have made building more homes, faster our top priority. Halton has a mature, two-tier system of local government,” he said, adding that they’re looking at ways to improve processes and find efficiencies.
“Our CAOs are working together to see what can be downloaded or uploaded,” Nisan said. “Keep in mind that three out of four municipalities in Halton are still towns. And there has not been a single motion at a lower-tier municipality calling for single tier. Honestly, the Region of Halton just works.”
As far as being the outlier, Oakville has come out strongly: Give us the power, Mayor Rob Burton said.
“Oakville was a single-tier city 50 years ago; it had everything a single-tier city has,” he said. “It was approximately 62,000 people; there are 62,000 residents, single-tier cities in Ontario today. Surely Oakville, at 230,000 and the 12th largest city in Ontario, probably could be a single-tier city. We pay so much more than our per capita share of Halton’s costs… at least $35 million worth of room to be better off."
He suggested the only thing that would be better controlled by the Region is the police service, which he says functions well.
“A single-tier city doesn't have to have its own police; criminals are no longer so geographically packaged, and all of our regional police forces have elaborate (cooperation) resources," he said.
“It may make sense to have a metropolitan police force. Look at London, England; the way we do things here is not the only way to do things,” Burton added.
Regional Chair Gary Carr, who wants Halton Region to remain intact, said regional services are important.
“They’ve got a 97 per cent approval rating and we’re going to continue to work always with improvement in mind, but we’ve got a great region and we would like to keep it that way.”
Burlington’s Anne Marsden, a well-known advocate for justice at council, said that despite the homes being built in the city, none of them are low income. The high-rises that are currently being constructed are not affordable, she said.
She suggested prefab homes, or building homes that people can rent to own - something she experienced when she lived in Great Britain.
People wishing to speak at the meetings must register in advance; locally, Burlington political advocate Marsden, who ran for chair of Halton Region in the last election, and Marsha Paley from North Halton were the only non-elected speakers to present.
People can also send in written submissions until 7 p.m. on Jan. 18.
This is the second regional governance review the Province has undertaken – the first was in 2019.
Review meetings continue all month: Brampton on Jan. 12, Ajax on Jan. 16, Vaughan on Jan. 17, and Kitchener on Jan. 18.
