County to consider first major composition change in 50 years

The governance committee at the County of Simcoe has made their recommendation to reduce the size of council to 21 members in the next council term, so now the process can start to see if all 16 member municipalities will get on board.

“Modernization of our governance model is an important consideration as we have not made changes in several decades,” said County of Simcoe Warden George Cornell. “As populations increase, complexity of government and residents’ needs increases, and overall expectations for what services can and should be afforded to our population increases, council feels these are important considerations.”

Currently, Simcoe County council is made up of 32 members: the mayor and deputy mayor of all 16 member municipalities get a seat at the table, with the warden and deputy warden positions elected from within those ranks.

Barrie and Orillia do not have a seat at the county council table as they are separated cities.

Under the new model, one representative from each member municipality would get a seat at the table – either the mayor from each municipality or a member chosen by each municipality at their municipal table, for 16 seats – as well five regional councillors which would be elected who don’t serve on any other municipal council. Future wardens and deputy wardens would be elected from the regional councillor pool.

“County staff were directed to review geographic areas that reflect current and future populations, keeping in mind balance,” said Cornell. “We also took into consideration some of the existing shared services and partnerships among our member municipalities.”

The five regional boundaries will be split up as follows:

• Ward 1: Innisfil and Bradford West Gwillimbury
• Ward 2: Essa Township, Adjala-Tosorontio and New Tecumseth
• Ward 3: Clearview Township, Collingwood and Wasaga Beach
• Ward 4: Springwater, Tiny, Tay, Midland and Penetanguishene
• Ward 5: Townships of Oro-Medonte, Severn and Ramara

“As the county grows in population and demand on county services increase, there is a need for dedicated political representatives that are focused on county business,” said Cornell. “This structure will allow for closer relationships and synergies between the county and the provincial and federal governments.”

Costs of the change, voting structure and compensation are some details that will be worked out over the coming months should the initial plan be approved at the March 10 council meeting.

“Council may provide additional direction,” said Cornell. “Further details about the governance change will be determined over the coming months, and a fulsome report would require Triple Majority approval before being adopted.”

Triple Majority approval requires a majority of all votes on county council are cast in favour of the change, a majority of the councils of all 16 lower-tier municipalities have passed resolutions consenting to the change and the total number of electors in the lower-tier municipalities that have consented to the change from a majority of all the electors in the County of Simcoe. A public meeting must also occur.

Cornell said the goal of the county’s governance committee is to have the approved changes in place for the next municipal election in 2022.

“This would be the first major change to county council’s composition in 50 years, but given the evolution and growth of our county, we believe that this is the right time to evaluate these changes for the future,” said Cornell.

While the staff report at the county level discusses not wanting to get involved in the governance structures of the lower tiers, there is a suggestion made at the end of the report that local municipalities consider sizes of five or seven councillors.

As a council of nine, Midland exceeds that number. Mayor Stewart Strathearn said this week that Midland has budgeted for their own governance review, where the town will look at pros and cons of a smaller council.

Their review will also look at the benefits of a ward system versus an at-large approach and traditional polls versus electronic or mail-in forms of polling.

“The prevalent sentiment appears to be for a smaller council,” said Strathearn. “We expect a report in the third quarter, then a discussion of the merits of each approach and a vote on the preferred option.”

In regards to the county’s governance committee, Strathearn said he agrees with the findings of the committee.

“The complexity of county matters has grown to the point where the Warden and Deputy (Warden) need to be full-time and for a four-year term. The at-large councillors meet that need,” he said.

The governance committee recommendation will be coming before County of Simcoe council at their March 10 meeting to be ratified.