You’re paying for council’s ward boundary delay
Councillors know the wards are not balanced by population: OMB hearing is wasteful
Why would Hamilton council waste potentially tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars defending an indefensible ward boundary change bylaw?
Like the majority of our country, I hold that fairness and equality are core Canadian beliefs, and they have been enshrined in our Charter of Rights. Canadians believe that wrongs and unfairness need to be righted, not exploited. It was in this spirit that the process of creating Hamilton ward population equality was begun. It was not in that same spirit that Hamilton city council tried to end it.
A great imbalance in municipal representation has been going on in the City of Hamilton since amalgamation, and is only expected to worsen in the next decade. The numbers are shocking. Ward 14 with a population of 16,315 (2011 Census) has the same vote at Hamilton council as Ward 7 with a population of 60,280. One Ward has 3.1 per cent of Hamilton’s population, the other 11.6 per cent. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that representation imbalances like these are unconstitutional. The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has enforceable precedents that a city’s ward populations should be, at the extreme most, either above 25 per cent or below 25 per cent of the average. In Hamilton the average ward would currently have 37,600 people. That leaves Ward 7 and Ward 8 (with 49,640 people) as above the very generous 25 per cent variance and Wards 10 (24,275), 13 (24,905) and 14 below the 25 per cent variance.
$270,000 of your taxes was spent on hiring Watson & Associates, recognized experts on Ontario ward Boundary reviews, to facilitate the review process in Hamilton. Watson did not reinvent the wheel here in Hamilton. Reviews have been ongoing in municipalities in Ontario for years now. Watson applied previously established Ontario requirements for Hamilton’s process to be successful. Watson reviewed public feedback, legal requirements and population trends to provide Hamilton council with two options for fair and equitable ward boundary redesign. Hamilton council’s immediate reaction was to reject adopting either one of Watson’s recommendations. Council decided instead to pull out colouring books and crayons to make their own ward boundaries that suited their own best interests. The results of council’s ward gerrymandering are far off of the six principals adopted by council at the start of the process. I feel the ward changes passed in Bylaw 17-030 are based completely in council’s self-interest and ultimately are unconstitutional. Council paid Watson extra to review their art project. Watson came back and said that they refused to provide testimony to support council’s end result. Watson also, along with city solicitors, informed council that the new Boundary Bylaw was basically indefensible if challenged at the board. Council passed it anyway.
Ask yourself this; why would Hamilton council waste potentially tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars defending an indefensible ward boundary change bylaw? The answer I have come to accept is this; council has no expectation of winning at the board. Council is only interested in delaying the review process long enough to prevent the card changes from happening before the next municipal election in November 2018. Council’s game is to spend your tax dollars to pay for card boundary delay. Councillors are looking for one last cheap and easy re-election as incumbents. They are willing to spend a disgusting amount of your tax dollars to keep that comfy council seat, with an easy win using ward boundaries practically similar to those they currently know and love.
Council’s disturbing, reckless display of self-interest and disregard of fairness, their own six principals and Ontario precedents is the reason I’m appealing Bylaw 17030 at the board. The initial deep divisions of amalgamation, which were managed by adopting our current ward boundaries, have had ample time to heal. It’s been 16 years since our city was joined together from parts to form a whole. It’s time for Hamilton to get over 16 year old grievances and move forward as a whole integrated city. Every time I view council in chambers I feel like I am watching 15 mayors and a regional chair, not a city with 15 councillors and one mayor.
A system of wards that was born in conflict and strife will only lead to continual conflict and strife. Ward change will be forced on Hamilton by the board whether council likes it or not. Council knows there is no actual winning an appeal of the bylaw. Their way to win this game is to delay the inevitable OMB result.
Councillors, I implore you to amend this reckless, selfish and wasteful bylaw and immediately adopt one of the two options presented to you by Watson before you arrogantly throw away our tax dollars on a timing gamble for your personal election convenience. Maybe the only real way to ensure ward population equity is to pay councillors by the resident. I wonder how balanced ward populations would become then.