Council warned to avoid too much involvement in ward review process

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

In the first of what is slated to be several presentations to council in the coming months, Dr. Robert Williams, the lead consultant for the city’s ward review, and representatives from Watson and Associates presented the first steps that will go towards the creation of new wards for the city.

While sticking firmly to council’s previously approved timeline, current plans will have public consultations getting underway in November, with a second phase in 2017 prior to final options being presented to council in May.

Williams, a former professor at the University of Waterloo that has been involved with more than 20 ward reviews across Ontario, explained that there are five “guiding principles” to establishing the city’s new system – effective representation in the new system, protection of community interest, representation by population, future population trends, and physical features or natural boundaries.

Through discussion with the residents, Williams says some of these will gain priority over others.

“It’s helpful to understand the way the community has governed itself in the past,” he says.

At these early stages, no possible outcomes were provided, but the consultant did admit there were concerns over the uncertain outcome of the Region of Durham’s composition changes.

Williams noted council needs to make a decision as to whether it will have Watson and Associates prepare for more than one outcome of the eventual changes to Oshawa council.

“It’s not complete, but we believe it’s important to start, so that if it does happen, we’re ready to act,”Williams said.

Of concern for councillors was the format for the eventual public consultations. Councillor Nancy Diamond made it clear it would need to be different than the much maligned OPUC merger open house that only included a set of display panels around the Jubilee Pavillion.

Diamond told the consultants the open houses should “truly be an opportunity for some kind of presentation from your group and an opportunity for the public to interact and react.”

It was during talk of the public open houses that Williams took the opportunity to warn councillors about getting too involved with the review beyond their role of making the final decision.

“Please, try and let the process unfold in the form that we’ve described,” he said.

Williams’ reasons for council standing back was that should the eventual decision of new ward boundaries be reviewed with the Ontario Municipal Board, the board would be looking carefully at the process to ensure it was indeed independent.

Following the meeting, Mayor John Henry says it was something council needed to hear.

“They made some very significant points that this is a public process, not a council process,” Henry said. “Council has a decision to make in the end, but we’re not allowed to interfere in the process.”

With Oshawa set to lose two councillors if the region’s new composition bylaw passes its triple majority with the other Durham municipalities, Henry would not speculate as to what that means for Oshawa’s council as a whole.

“That’s not what my job is to do, to put my ideas out there today. This is about gathering the ideas from the residents in the community and letting them come forward, have that dialogue. I don’t want to influence anyone by my comments,” he said.