City should move now on ward review

By Joel Wittnebel/Column

Municipal gears turn slowly. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in council chambers can attest to that.

The reinstallation of the ward system is going to be one of the largest undertakings of this council term, and if the machine doesn’t start moving now, residents will once again be voting at-large in 2018.

In speaking with city staff, I know that no steps are being taken until the final decision is made on the region’s composition review. The bylaw that will trigger that change is currently sitting on a legislative shelf in Queen’s Park, waiting for the final thumbs-up from Minister Ted McMeekin following a 45-day public review period.  After that, the bylaw must pass through each of the lower-tier municipalities to achieve its convoluted triple majority.

Now, let’s run some timelines.

Let’s say, going off the estimate from Oshawa city staff, a final stamp of approval is achieved this fall, perhaps October at the latest. This means city staffers can move on this in early winter at the earliest, assuming they have all resources ready to go when the signal is given.

How long will it take to get the final report?

The final decision on the jumbotron took more than a year. A bylaw to regulate designated drivers was tossed around city hall and pontificated on in the council chambers for almost nine months.

This ward review will require extensive research, several public meetings, open houses, online forums for comments, council discussions and, I would imagine, several rounds of reports as councillors add their own suggestions.

If that begins late 2016, or more realistically, the beginning of 2017, will the city be able to cram all of that in to one year? And if it is, will the rushed job impact the review itself?

Although at a much larger 44-ward system, Toronto has been undergoing its ward review for the past two years. Two years! A final report is expected to come down this spring.

According to the Municipal Act, the city must have the new wards in place by the end of 2017 or they can say goodbye to having them in affective for the 2018 election.

I won’t run scenarios, but common sense dictates the regional composition bylaw will have no problem getting its trio of approvals. With Oshawa the only municipality set to lose any seats, and with Whitby and Ajax set to gain, why would the other municipalities say no? Primitive math shows the two set to gain the most make up nearly half of the Region’s growing population. All Whitby and Ajax need are for one mid-sized municipality to be on board to reach the majority needed shoud all councils not approve it.

So aside from looking for a consultant to assist with the review, is the city doing anything else? Are timelines being looked at? Are public meetings being scheduled? Resources being set aside for when the eventual green light turns on?

I certainly hope so, as council could be set to disappoint more than 70 per cent of the voting population that said they wanted to go back to the polls in an at-large system.