The municipal election of October 1973 was a contentious one that saw the formation of the Town of Halton Hills - a municipality that would amalgamate Esquesing Township, along with the towns of Acton and Georgetown.
Prior to this election, legislation was passed by the provincial government, under then-premier Bill Davis, that would see Halton County become a regional municipality with four areas of local government.
The four municipalities to be formed were initially labelled as North Halton, Central Halton, City of Burlington and Town of Oakville. The province’s decision to eliminate multi-tier governing and reduce it to a two-tier system, was to streamline local government and to ultimately cut costs.
With the announcement of regionalization, many residents feared what the amalgamation of local governments and communities would look like, with most worries centering around a possible rise in taxes and the potential of funding inequality for services in smaller communities compared to larger ones.
Upon election time, the residents of the former Esquesing Township, Acton and Georgetown not only had the option to vote for a mayor and council, they also had the opportunity to select a name for the newly-formed town.
On the ballot, residents could vote for the names of Esquesing, North Halton and Halton Hills. Out of the 9,400 residents who participated in the Oct. 1, 1973 election, over 3,900 voted for the name of Halton Hills - a name that remains to this day.
The first mayor elected for the newly-formed Halton Hills was coincidentally former Esquesing Reeve Tom Hill, with the Acton Free Press reporting his victory as “It’s Halton Hills and Hill’s Halton.”
Local councillors to be voted in were Les Duby and Joe Hurst for Ward 1 (Acton), Russ Miller and Dick Howitt for Ward 2 (Esquesing), Roy Booth and Ernie Hyde for Ward 3 (North Georgetown), and Harry Levy and Graham Ripley for Ward 4 (South Georgetown). One month following the election, Ripley suddenly passed away, and the vacancy would be filled by Michael Armstrong.
Those elected to represent Halton Hills on regional council included Mayor Tom Hill, Pat McKenzie (Ward 1), Len Coxe (Ward 2), Rick Morrow (Ward 3) and Ernie Sykes (Ward 4).
After Hill’s mayoral victory was proclaimed, the Acton Free Press reported “his first aim was to unite the three towns into one” - a cumbersome task that would see services, such as hydro and road maintenance from the former township and towns merged under the new umbrella of Halton Hills.
The Town Hall and council chambers for the new municipality would be placed in the former Esquesing Township office in Stewarttown, later to be replaced by a new Civic Centre located on Halton Hills Drive in 1989.
On Jan. 1, 1974, the Town of Halton Hills came into effect with the new council being officially sworn-in on Jan. 3. After almost 50 years since amalgamation, Halton Hills is home to close to 63,000 residents, all while preserving the historic communities of Acton and Georgetown, along with the smaller areas of Glen Williams, Hornby, Limehouse, Norval and Stewarttown.
Article written by Scott Brooks, with information from the Dills Collection / Acton Free Press / HHPL.
