De-amalgamation: Possible maybe, wise no

De-amalgamation? Again? Really? (Heavy sigh.)

The Fraser Institute says it’s possible. To be fair, in the study titled De-Amalgamation in Canada: Breaking Up is Hard to Do, the authors also say it’s probably not recommended in most circumstances because of the complexities and expense involved. But it’s not impossible. Let’s grant that.

Yes, if a provincial government decided to take on the billions of dollars involved, and the polarized debate, and the going back to the future on governance, it could do so. The province creates municipalities, and it can break them up if it wants to. So if secessionists in Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa and other amalgamated municipalities could gather critical mass and successfully lobby the province, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Flamborough could be free at last.

It happened in Montreal. Mind you, after the province mandated 213 municipalities into 42, including the merger of 28, and another government came along and allowed de-amalgamation, the island was left with no fewer than four levels of municipal government. It also happened in Headingley, Manitoba, which was allowed to break away from Winnipeg. It’s an affluent community and absorbed the extra costs incurred.

Let’s be fanciful for a moment, as one needs to be to take de-amalgamation seriously. Would Dundas take on its own fire and EMS service? Would Ancaster have its own garbage collection? Would it pay Hamilton to use the landfill site, which is actually in Glanbrook? Would Stoney Creek have its own economic development department and staff, competing with Hamilton and other players for new business and residential growth? Would Glanbrook have its own police, or perhaps contract with the OPP, which is one the more expensive policing options? What about the business incubators that Hamilton founded but which reside in suburban areas? Would suburban taxpayers have to take on reimbursing that cost? Water and sanitation costs? Libraries? Roads and sidewalks? Separate mayors and councils? Separate administrations?

Has amalgamation lived up to all the promises made by the Harris government? Probably not. Was the issue handled rudely by that government when it forced the matter? No doubt. Do some residents, particularly in rural areas that don’t get the variety or density of municipal services, have a legitimate beef ? Again, no doubt, although many of them incorrectly blame amalgamation for rising tax rates when it’s often property assessment changes, which are driven by the province, not the city.

But does all that add up to a solid case — business or otherwise — for unscrambling this egg? Municipal balkanization is not what this region needs right now. And no sensible provincial party is going to advocate otherwise.

Howard Elliott