02-09-2019, 02:21 PM
Don’t mess with success, local mayors, regional chair tell provincial advisers
Quote:The current two-tier municipal government system is working well in Waterloo Region, the region's mayors and regional chair emphasized Thursday during meetings with provincial advisers on municipal reform.
The province announced in January that it was appointing Waterloo Region's former chair, Ken Seiling, and Michael Fenn, a former deputy minister and chief administrator of Hamilton-Wentworth Region, to review the governments of Waterloo Region and eight other regions and counties, with an eye to finding efficiencies and cutting costs.
The announcement sparked concern about whether the province might force local municipalities to merge into one supercity. The City of Cambridge, and the rural townships in particular, fear their identities may get erased if the province opts for amalgamation.
The advisers were in town Thursday to meet individually with each of the mayors of the region's three cities and four townships, as well as with regional Chair Karen Redman. They are to make recommendations to the province by this summer.
Any reforms should proceed only if they actually make life better for the residents and businesses of the region, Redman said. "I don't think you can start or end (only) with what the right number of politicians is for Waterloo Region."