Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler
Another Nail in the Coffin
This week the Government of Ontario passed legislation that will require regional governments to elect their head of council at large. This will have a direct effect on Muskoka, as currently the Chair of the Muskoka District (Regional) Council is elected only by District councillors. At first blush, this is a great idea; democracy in action and all that good stuff. Indeed, most people who reacted to the story when it was published by Huntsville Doppler liked the idea. To me, however, it comes under the heading of ‘Be careful what you wish for’.
By electing the District Chair across all of Muskoka you are in effect creating a super mayor. The District Chair will have a constituency and therefore a mandate larger than any mayor of a lower-tier municipality. By definition, he or she will become the senior municipal politician in Muskoka. That, in my view, is one more step toward single-tier governance in Muskoka; just one more nail in the coffin of local municipalities. Perhaps it is inevitable, but I still don’t like it. I continue to believe that municipal government is best delivered at the local level. District Government has created a bureaucracy in Muskoka with close to 500 employees and this is in addition to the people employed by the six area municipalities. With a head of District Council that has a mandate across all of Muskoka, it can only get worse.
There are other problems as well in electing the District Chair at large. A District-wide election will cost money, real money, as much as $75,000 per candidate. And where will that money come from? Certainly not from the candidates. They will have to raise most of the money to cover the cost of their election campaigns. Some people will donate money simply because they believe in the candidate. Others will donate because they hope they will have influence if they support the winning candidate. It is just human nature. This is especially true of companies that have the potential of doing business with the municipality. While there are limits on the amount of money a company can donate, there are ways around it, through related corporations and personal donations from individuals connected to the business. This can add up to a considerable amount of money and, potentially, influence. We have seen it at the local level. With a Muskoka-wide election of the District Chair, it is inevitable that we will see it there as well.
The election of the District Chair at large is an edict from the Ontario Government. But other reforms to District Government in Muskoka have been on the District table. One resolution, to reduce the number of District Councillors from 22 to 12, was shot down this week. Not surprising. Only a handful would have the guts to potentially do themselves out of a second stipend. Instead, off the issue goes to a consultant. Just more money and another delay.
District Council also voted to give seasonal residents equal weight with permanent residents when it comes to representation on District Council. In theory that sounds all right but it is unclear what it means. If it means that every property owner is counted once whether they are seasonal or permanent, that makes some sense. However, if, as reported, it is based on a Second Home Study prepared by District staff, it is possible that a person who is both a permanent resident and a cottager within the District, could be counted twice and that would be unfair. In any event, my bet is that the motion will end up adding more members to District Council and not cutting any.
All in all, I have a sinking feeling that the writing is on the wall. There is a slow but inexorable movement toward single upper-tier governance in Muskoka. This latest move by the Wynne Government to elect the District Chair at large is one more step in that direction. That, in my view, is a damn shame.
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As we already have a District Chair (elected by a small special-interest group), why is it worse to have she/he elected by the entire region? Is it not better for the elected individual to attempt to please a majority of the regional electorate, rather than a mere 22 (or potentially fewer) individuals for 4 years? The drive for re-election has always been an incentive for balanced governance in a democracy; as it should be in this instance.
Personally, I dislike the idea of a District Chair as much as anybody: but the time to put that genie back into the lamp has long passed.
Be careful what you wish for pretty well sums this one up.
One has to wonder if the benefits of a two tier system actually outweigh the costs. Duplication always costs more and in Muskoka we have this for sure!
This is tax time and a quick look at my tax bill tells me that the spending is about 25% for Education via the Province, 25% to the local municipality, yes that is the one that takes more money for everything you might want to do in the way of a permit or user fee, and then the big one of about 50% for District government.
I don’t live in Bracebridge so I’m missing out on being in the centre of the municipal universe here but what i do see is that it is almost impossible go to Huntsville and not see several “District of Muskoka” pick up trucks driving in all directions at almost all hours. I wonder what they are all doing? Things that the local municipality with their own fleet of trucks cannot do I suppose?
The point here is the cost!
Plain and simple, our government in Muskoka costs too much! We need to reduce these costs. Sadly, I have yet to see a politician vote to remove themselves from office.
Hugh mentions the seasonal vs permanent resident issue again too. Big hidden issue here. Sure if you own property you should get some input into your local government but should there be some difference between the permanent resident, who lives and works here all year round and the cottager who, like a seagull, drops in for a few weeks a year when the weather is nice and then goes elsewhere? These people indisputably have an “investment” here but they don’t “live” here. Should there be some difference when votes are counted? Perhaps only one vote per “principal residence” might be a good idea. That way some theoretical person owning 25 homes would still only get one vote?
Mayor Young is closer to the right track I think by minimizing the District government level and making it more of a true forum for the lower municipalities in which to co-operate. People prefer to deal locally for their needs. Currently there is a lot of duplication and with it cost.
One simple example, suppose you wish to put a sign on a District road? Why do you need a permit from the local municipality for a sign on a district road? You need a permit from both. They can’t seem to decide who’s road it is so they both charge you! And this is but one tiny simple example. We are just lucky the Province and Federal governments do not charge us as well.
I agree with Hugh and Bob as to the bad idea of electing a Super Mayor. A big Daddy would be just another layer of squabbling. Our Huntsville Council can’t reach an agreement on anything without spending a whack of money on a consultant to do their work for them. Wouldn’t be so bad if they just listened to the people who elected them. You know, – Government By The People, For The People……… Put a Big Daddy in there and you’d quickly get a lame duck local Council. Wait a minute, maybe that’s what we have now.
In my view we should scrap District altogether, and have each area look after its own turf. That worked before and it will work again. We could turn those fancy District buildings into much needed low-cost housing.
This will be a big mistake and all because Muskoka is “deemed” to be like a Region. We have no resemblance to the “real” Regions of Peel, Halton, Durham, etc. They are large, urban centres. We should be what we are – a County (like the County of Haliburton), and then we could continue to elect our Warden as we currently so.
While I hesitate to get into the Towns vs Townships issue (but it is constantly the elephant in the room), this move to Muskoka wide election will favour Towns candidates who have power centres – there really aren’t any power centres in the Townships. Therefore, District Chairs will continue to be from the Towns and will continue to be Town biased.
Perhaps a better solution is to eliminate the District structure all together and go back to 6 single tier municipalities – like the District of Parry Sound.
Yes, I do so agree. We always thought that to go to a Muskoka-wide election for District Chair was a mistake and I am very disappointed that this government has taken us there. It changes everything and not for the better.