Bradford West Gwillimbury Makes Case for Regional Governance Reform in Simcoe County

Today, representatives of the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury appeared as witnesses before the Ontario Legislature’s Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy to advocate in favour of regional governance reform.

“Ontario's counties were originally intended as an upper-tier, coordinating body for rural municipalities. While much of the Simcoe County landscape remains rural today, the emergence of large urban centres — including our own in Bradford — led to rapid growth over the past few decades,” said Mayor James Leduc. “With provincial policy directing more growth to our area, this regional review comes at an opportune time to determine whether Simcoe County’s governance structure and service area responsibilities are relevant today and into the future.”

“We would respectfully submit that there are areas of improvement,” added Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu. “We believe that ensuring a governance system based on representative by population is imperative.”

In their submission, the Town’s representatives outlined four key areas for the Standing Committee to consider:

A) ensuring there is fair democratic representation for all member municipalities;

B) structure and practices are in place that deliver efficient decision-making and good governance;

C) service area responsibilities are clearly defined, aligned and avoid duplicative or overly cumbersome processes; and,

D) lower-tier municipalities possess greater autonomy.

“Right now, each of the County’s 16 member municipalities has two representatives, equating to two votes, unless a recorded vote is called for, which triggers a weighted vote system based on population. We feel there are other models that would be fairer and more equitable that should be implemented,” said Councillor Jonathan Scott.

“Getting regional governance right is critical for our Town as we continue to grow,” added Councillor Ben Verkaik.

“The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury fully supports the province's review of regional government,” concluded Mayor Leduc. “We are confident that it will lead to a stronger future for our community and the broader region.”

Below you will find Council's resolution and the Mayor's speaking notes to the Standing Committee

November 6, 2023

TOWN OF BRADFORD WEST GWILLIMBURY PRESENTATION TO THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON HERITAGE, INFRASTRUCTURE AND CULTURAL POLICY REGARDING THE REGIONAL GOVERNANCE REVIEW

Good morning, everyone: my name is James Leduc, and I am Mayor of Bradford West Gwillimbury.

I’m joined today by Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu, Councillor Jonathan Scott, Councillor Ben Verkaik, and our CAO, Geoff McKnight.

Together, we form our Town’s working group on regional governance review as our County Councillors and Alternate County Councillors.

I’m here to share today that Bradford West Gwillimbury welcomes this committee’s work looking into ways to improve regional governance.

I also want to share with you the principles and outcomes we hope this committee will pursue to help improve regional governance here in Simcoe County.

First, some background and context:

Bradford West Gwillimbury is the southern-most municipality in Simcoe County, located north of Vaughan and south of Barrie.

We are an agricultural community, including the Holland Marsh, which is the “soup and salad bowl of Canada”.
Over the past two decades, we have experienced rapid population growth as one of Canada’s fastest-growing municipalities.

Today, we number approximately 44,000 people and will grow to 84,000 by 2051.
In short, what was once a small, agricultural town is now a mid-sized municipality, which will only continue to grow.

The Town, straddling the Hwy. 400 and Yonge Street corridors, is located at the midpoint between the City of Barrie and downtown Toronto, and we are seeing significant industrial and commercial growth.

Given this rapid growth, we have a lot in common with typical GTA municipalities.

As a town, we are a lower-tier municipality situated within the County of Simcoe, which is comprised of sixteen towns and townships.

The County has an estimated population of 565,000 people and is the second largest County based upon population and third largest based upon physical size in Ontario.

As an upper-tier municipality, the County of Simcoe is responsible for a range of municipal services, which include social housing, land ambulance and emergency planning, solid waste management, the County Road system, Ontario Works, library co-operative, museum, archives, County forest management, regional tourism, regional transit, and land-use policy planning.

Bradford West Gwillimbury, like other lower-tier municipalities, is responsible for water and sewer services, local roads, public libraries, recreation services, fire and police services, land use development control, licensing, permitting services, local transit and general administration.

Ontario's counties were originally intended as an upper-tier, coordinating body for rural municipalities.
While much of the Simcoe County landscape remains rural today, the emergence of large urban centres — including our own in Bradford — and significant tourist destinations have drawn rapid growth over the past few decades.

With provincial policy directing more growth to our area, this regional review comes at an opportune time to determine whether Simcoe County’s governance structure and service area responsibilities are relevant today and into the future.

We would respectfully submit that there are areas of improvement.

Specifically, we request that the Standing Committee thoroughly assess and seek improvements towards:
a) ensuring there is a fair democratic representation for all member municipalities;
b) structure and practices are in place that deliver efficient decision-making and good governance;
c) service area responsibilities are clearly defined, aligned and avoid duplicative or overly cumbersome processes; and,
d) lower-tier municipalities possess greater autonomy.

We believe that ensuring a governance system based on representation by population is imperative.
Instead, right now, each of the County’s 16 member municipalities has two representatives, equating to two votes, unless a recorded vote is called for, which triggers a weighted vote system based on population.

We feel there are other models that would be fairer and more equitable that should be implemented.

Similarly, there are some areas of municipal and County services that are duplicative or could be streamlined to save taxpayers money and more efficiently deliver for our residents.

Following the announcement from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing this summer regarding the inclusion of Simcoe County among those upper tiers subject to the regional review, our Council unanimously passed the motion included with our written submission.

Let me just quote a few highlights:
“…Whereas Bradford West Gwillimbury has unique needs within Simcoe County due to its nature as the southernmost municipality, the most urbanized, most diverse and one of the largest towns in the County and one of the fastest-growing municipalities in the country; and

Whereas Simcoe County Council consists of each of the sixteen member municipalities’ Mayor and Deputy Mayor such that Bradford West Gwillimbury, despite being one of the County’s largest municipalities, receives only two votes out of thirty-two total votes on County Council; and

Whereas this lack of ‘representation by population’ is contrary to long-established Canadian principles of effective representation; and

Whereas Bradford West Gwillimbury seeks to operate in a manner that best facilitates smart residential growth, economic development and a lean, efficient government; and

Whereas given the disparate interests and challenges across the County’s municipalities, varying growth pressures faced across the area and the provincial imperative to urgently deliver a broader range and supply of housing, the timing of the…review of Simcoe County’s future role, responsibilities and inter-municipal relationships is critical;

Now therefore, the Council of the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury hereby…

Urges [the province] to consider how to ensure principles such as fair democratic representation; efficient decision making and good governance; removal of duplicative or overly cumbersome processes; and greater lower-tier autonomy, particularly for South Simcoe municipalities…”

This resolution expresses the Town’s support for the regional review and lists the key matters that we feel should be addressed for all lower-tier municipalities.

In undertaking this review, we request that the Committee employ appropriate resources and professional services to assist with examining and expanding upon work previously completed.

We would point you to the 2019 regional review by Ken Seiling and Michael Fenn, as well as service reviews completed by the County in 2022 for such areas as legal services, library services, fire services, and water and wastewater services.

The town also requests that additional in-person consultation opportunities be provided with lower-tier municipalities, stakeholders and the public.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this consultation process.

There may not be a more impactful exercise currently underway that will have a greater influence on the future of our region.

The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury fully supports the province's review of regional government.

We are confident that it will lead to a stronger future for our community and the broader region.