· CBC News
March 13, 2019
People whose municipalities are part of Ontario’s regional government review are being asked to share their thoughts about what they want to see change — or stay the same — with their local governments in an online consultation.
The province is currently doing a review of 82 upper and lower municipalities in Halton, York, Durham, Waterloo, Niagara, Peel, Muskoka District, Oxford County, and the County of Simcoe.
The province says a new online form will allow people to offer opinions on how to improve the local two-tier government system when it comes to local governance, decision-making and service delivery.
Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, announced the public consultation on Wednesday.
On the website for the online consultation, the province says the reason for the review is to make sure the local governments “are efficient and accountable” to the people who live there.
Online consultations will be accepted until April 23.
“We all felt very strongly that we needed to make a commitment for people who live and work in those 82 upper-lower municipalities and we felt that the online version was the best way to do so,” Clark said.
Special advisers to review online submissions
The province has two special advisers, former deputy minister and municipal chief administrator Michael Fenn and former Region of Waterloo chair Ken Seiling, who are currently meeting with municipalities and other stakeholders. They will also assess the feedback from the online consultation.
“We’re received a number of correspondence items already, directly to myself and to the advisers, but we feel the process will be fair and allow people to have their say,” Clark said in an interview.
Seiling and Fenn are expected to provide a report to Clark this summer.
The province has not ruled out the possibility that some municipalities could be amalgamated, although Clark has said the province has made no decisions as of yet.
Read complete story here: CBCNews.ca