The debate is back, yet again. How large should Muskoka’s upper-tier government really be? Should the 22 councillors that currently represent all of Muskoka, plus the chair, be reduced? And how should Muskoka’s six member municipalities be represented on that regional government?
The latter question, in part, has been answered by the Province, which has indicated that representation should be carried out by population. Of course municipalities with million dollar cottages in their midst and smaller populations would argue that how much of a say they get when it comes to decision-making at the District, should be reflected on how much of the bill they’re required to foot. But representation by assessment is quickly becoming a losing battle.
Should year-round and seasonal populations get equal representation?
When the District of Muskoka was incorporated in 1970, its six member municipalities – the towns of Huntsville, Bracebridge and Gravenhurst and the townships of Muskoka Lakes, Lake of Bays and Georgian Bay – were represented based on their population. Greater weight was given to year-round residents, which meant the towns automatically got greater representation, while seasonal populations were weighted at 50 per cent. The final outcome remains today. All three towns send four elected representatives to the District table, while the Township of Muskoka Lakes (with the greatest number of seasonal residents) also sends four and the townships of Georgian Bay and Lake of Bays send three, again for a total of 22 councillors, plus the District chair.
Eliminating that formula and counting all residents as equals was included in a three-hour discussion at the District on June 19. The issue of council composition was brought forward once again by District Chair John Klinck, who said that although the last round of discussions went nowhere, there was consensus around the table to bring the issue back.
In the end, three motions went before council. The first was to agree in principle to count year-round and seasonal residents as equals. Huntsville and District Councillor Brian Thompson was not at the meeting, but Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison voted in favour of the resolution along with District and Huntsville Councillor Nancy Alcock. Huntsville Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano, who also sits at the District table, voted against.
Terziano said she was concerned about how seasonal populations would be counted.
So if I live in Huntsville and have a second property in Huntsville, I don’t get to be represented a second time, I don’t get a second vote. But if you live in Huntsville and have a second cottage in Muskoka Lakes, you are now being counted twice because you’re within two different municipalities but there’s only one District government. So it’s very confusing how the representation would work.Huntsville Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano
“It’s not that I’m against a seasonal person being counted as a whole person. What I’m against is not understanding even what we’re voting on and the fact that we’re changing how the District is represented without actually knowing what we’re changing it to,” added Terziano.
In the end, that resolution passed with a vote of 11 in favour and nine against.
Reduce the number of councillors from 22 to 12?
Next up was a rather ambitious motion put forward by Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison and supported by Georgian Bay Mayor Larry Braid. The motion called for District council to be reduced from 22 councillors to 12. It also called for representation to be divvied up based on an equally weighted year-round and seasonal population, as per table D in the report compiled by District Clerk Debbie Crowder. That motion was defeated by a vote of 15 to 5, again with Huntsville Councillor Brian Thompson absent as well as Lake of Bays Mayor Bob Young.
Both Aitchison and Terziano voted in favour of that reduction, but Alcock voted against. Alcock said she’s not opposed to reducing the number of councillors at District, but felt making a decision at that point would have been premature, even though that formula may be the best approach. “My issue was putting it on the table that night based on the note that was before us,” she said, adding that the report put forth by the District clerk was excellent but the data used to inform the report was not based on the latest numbers as per the 2016 census.
Hire a consultant to look a the issue?
Next was a motion to issue a request for proposal for a consultant to review the composition of District council, which would include weighing both seasonal and year-round residents equally. The consultant would also look at reducing the number of representatives at the table, at a cost not to exceed $20,000 and an exercise which would commence as soon as possible. That motion passed by a vote of 12 to eight, with all three Huntsville representatives present voting in favour.
Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison said he is against hiring a consultant but voted in favour of the motion to move it forward. The last time a motion was put forward to hire a consultant was approximately eight months ago. it was defeated and the issue was taken off the table. The Province has since mandated that all municipalities will be required to review council composition by December 31, 2020. Any changes will require a triple-majority. That means a majority of District councillors, a majority of Muskoka’s six member municipalities and a majority of the populations they represent.
According to a report submitted by the clerk, the 22 councillors cost an estimated $389,000 per year, based on 2016 data. Her report also notes that the number of councillors on District council each on average represent 4,583 people, the lowest among any other upper-tier governments she examined based on 2011 census data.
You can find the clerk’s background report on District council composition here and the wording for the various resolutions and how councillors voted at this link.
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How much have they spent on consultants in the last 10 years?