Man behind ward change was simply seeking voter equity

Dundas lawyer used part of his vacation to oppose city council ward scheme at OMB hearing

Rob Dobrucki spent his vacation this year fighting a David-and-Goliath legal battle over equal representation of citizens by local government.

No, it wasn’t very relaxing, admitted the Dundas resident, a lawyer by trade who currently works as a union labour relations officer — but who also battled for ward boundaries exclusively in his spare time. “I imagine most people who take vacation don’t spend seven of 10 days in front of a legal tribunal,” he said with a chuckle.

Nor was it easy, taking on a team of municipal lawyers representing council — or the city’s consulting firm, which after the hearing billed Dobrucki more than $3,000 for services he says he didn’t agree to pay for.

But the result, at least, was satisfying — a precedent-setting Ontario Municipal Board order Tuesday to radically redraw Hamilton’s municipal political map ahead of the 2018 election. The order also throws out a tweaked version of existing ward boundaries controversially created by incumbent councillors, most of whom rejected recommendations from their own $260,000 study and consulting team.

“I’m pleased the city’s plan was not implemented,” said Dobrucki, who was approached on more than one occasion by city lawyers in an effort to settle his ward bound-

aries appeal. “I was never unwilling to consider a compromise … but the truth is none of (the settlement proposals) addressed problems like having one ward with half the population of another ward.”

The OMB-imposed map will add a new ward on the populous Mountain, erase a standalone rural ward (14, in Flamborough) and reshape several wards so that former communities and current neighbourhoods end up with new representation.

Fair representation and relative voter parity between wards were key reasons why the city embarked on a year-and-half long public consultation process and study of ward boundaries in the first place.

It’s also the reason Dobrucki said he made the effort, along with Stoney Creek citizen Mark Richardson, to appeal a council-approved plan they felt ignored those principles.

“Basically, when people elect a municipal representative, the value of a vote in Dundas should be roughly the same as the value of a vote in (old city) Hamilton or Stoney Creek,” Dobrucki said. “I think we will be closer to that now.”

Dobrucki is a lawyer and knows his way around a legal proceeding, but he noted his area of expertise is labour and human rights, rather than municipal law.

That said, he has past political experience and interest — running for the NDP in Welland in the 1984 federal election and later serving on the Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale provincial NDP riding association, for example.

He has also researched and waded into voter parity and political boundary debates at all government levels over 30 years. That includes submitting proposals during the most recent federal update of Ontario’s riding boundaries.

The city reached a settlement with the other citizen appellant, Richardson, before the main OMB hearing began in October.

But Dobrucki opted to stick with the hearing process to the end, even when the city’s consultant billed him $3,047.05 — 24 hours-plus of work at $110 an hour, plus tax, the invoice says — apparently for services rendered during the hearing.

The Dundas lawyer says he has “no intention of paying” that particular bill, noting he signed no contract for services with the city’s consultant.

He did, however, pay $600 to get the city’s database related to ward boundaries public consultation.

Other services, including advice from a municipal planner and data mapping by a friendly GIS expert, were provided to him pro bono, which was a big help, Dobrucki said.

Otherwise, he said his biggest investment in the hearing was “volunteer time.”

He acknowledged the effort might be mystifying for many residents. “There are probably a lot more people interested in the Maple Leafs and the Hamilton Bulldogs than population distribution,” he said.

“But how we choose our elected representatives is fundamental to our democracy … I think everyone should be concerned about that.”