Debate needed on core functions of Niagara Region
This month, Ontario Premier Doug Ford cancelled what would have been the direct election for regional chair in Niagara and other regional municipalities.
This affront to the democratic process by changing the rules in the middle of the game has not only denied citizens of Niagara the right to directly elect a regional chair, but also negated the possibility of residents participating directly in the much-needed debate on the role, purpose, and benefits of regional government.
As a board member of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the chair of the regional caucus for AMO, I have spoken with colleagues here and across Ontario and am very concerned about how municipalities will be viewed by this provincial government. Is it a mature partnership where we share the obligations of government, or will we be treated as a stakeholder along with other interest groups advocating for their cause? This distinction is important to everyone and has consequences for the citizens of Niagara.
All regional governments are a contrivance created by the provincial government in the 1960s, joining counties together to form larger units to deliver more affordable services to citizens.
Police, public health, water/sewer and all social services are examples of such services.
Although these departments are operated professionally and services are delivered universally across the Region, regional government — particularly in Niagara — has become distant and disconnected from the public it serves. Most citizens don’t understand its purpose or believe in its value.
A region-wide election for chair would have provided a forum for a debate on the future and role of regional government in Niagara, in areas such as:
• Rising to the challenge of providing affordable housing?
• - Coping with the coming demographic wave requiring long-term care?
• The changing nature of policing?
• The needed infra-structure investments to sustain our quality of roads, water, and environmental services?
• Intercity transit to connect our communities?
These are all real questions about the role of government in our lives and the services we expect within the contract of paying property taxes in exchange of the kind of orderly society we desire.
Most Niagara residents identify more deeply with their local community. Rightly so. Regional government, properly executed, allows and encourages local communities to flourish and thrive which in turn makes us greater together than apart.
A debate on how we can come together as a Region to address the challenges before us is needed now more than ever. If we are going to be denied a region-wide election for our chair, we can at least focus the debate for members of regional council on the core function of regional government and what future there can be under the current regime at Queen’s Park.