Baby steps

Council considers path through size of council debate

If you live on the north side of Mill Street in Consecon, three members of council are guarding your interests. But if you live on the south side of the same street you have just one councillor at Shire Hall. It is just one of several oddities arising from the decision to run an electoral dividing line through the middle of this village.

Council is considering reopening the question of its size and system of representation- But according to a consultant with whom the municipality is considering working, it is unfair that one voter has three representatives and another has one. Robert Williams told council last week that even if it chooses not to change the size of council it must reconsider the shapes, sizes and boundaries of the current electoral ward system. Williams knows he is facing stiff opposition to this view, and risking the assignment in the process. But his experience and knowledge tell him the County can’t embark on this process without fixing this inequity.

Yet others, including a mix of former and current councillors, cling fervently to the belief that this isn’t a “burning issue” and council should simply leave it alone.

To do this, however, council will have to ignore the results of a 2010 election ballot question in which 81 per cent of respondents said they wanted a public review of the issues around municipal representation.
Defenders of the status quo point out that just 42 per cent of the electorate filled in a ballot. Therefore council isn’t legally bound to act upon the outcome. Former Councillor Monica Alyea told council that each non-vote could be interpreted as vote for the current system— that apathy equals a contented electorate. “I didn’t vote in all past elections,” said Alyea. “I was satisfied.”

But Williams warns that the system of representation as it is now is not balanced, and likely to fail a Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge.

“Some have more voice than others in this community,” explained Williams. “I believe the way you elect council now would not stand up to scrutiny.”

A THICKENING SWAMP
It is an issue that has vexed at least three terms of council—stirred up bitter and rancorous debate, challenged notions of identity and history, defied various methods of resolution and has already once forced the municipality to defend itself at the Ontario Municipal Board.

The size of council has long been the trigger for the debate. The County has 15 councillors and a mayor for 25,000 residents; meanwhile Markham with 336,000 people manages with just 10. But the inequity of the current ward system has always trailed not far behind. Wellington elects one councillor with 1,724 electors. Bloomfield also has one councillor representing just 510 voters—less than third of Wellington.

Many folks point to this lopsided representation as an affront to basic principles of equity and democracy.

Unable to break the impasse, the last council punted the issue to the public, by way of a question on the ballot: Are you in favour of council commencing a public consultation process to review the size of council for the County of Prince Edward? Of the 9,381 voters who answered the question—7,578 voted yes, 1,803 voted no.

But despite the overwhelming affirmative response, it has taken more than half of this council’s term to begin to address the issue. Now there’s a risk the process won’t be completed in time for the outcome to be implemented before the next election.

Some councillors agree with Alyea that it isn’t a burning issue—that those who didn’t mark a ballot were in fact voting for the current system.

Enough councillors were uneasy with ignoring the clearly expressed view of the electorate to nudge the process further—at least, to the point of considering an objective facilitator to guide them through one more attempt to navigate these murky waters and arrive at a workable recommendation.

Last week they heard the pitches of two men who seek to offer their expertise.

Jonathon Rose is an associate professor at Queen’s University in Kingston as well as a writer and adviser on political processes. Robert Williams is steeped in municipal governance, having guided Cambridge officials through thorny issues arising from amalgamating a cluster of communities including Galt, Preston and Hespeler.

The two are vying to guide the County through this divisive debate.

Although council was set to choose between Rose, Williams or none of the above at the conclusion of the meeting—for time is running out—they opted, due to the late hour, to defer the decision until April 23.