Special advisers named to review Ontario regional municipalities called ‘honest, thorough, fair,’
Government expects project to be completed by early summer
FRANCINE KOPUN Ken Seiling, one of two provincially appointed advisers tasked with heading the regional review in Ontario, says change is part of government.
“My experience has been ... that no government should be static, there is always change because times change,” said Seiling, who stepped down as chair of Waterloo Region in November after 33 years in the role.
“You can’t stay frozen in time,” he said.
He said he has no preconception of what the review should conclude.
“I am going into this with an open mind. All of the regions have some nuances, some differences, so we want to hear from everybody.”
The Ontario government under Premier Doug Ford announced the regional government review on Tuesday, ap- pointing Seiling and Michael Fenn as special advisers.
“It’s important work, and I’m optimistic that we will produce some results that people are going to be pleased with,” said Fenn, who was a deputy minister under three Ontario premiers and a municipal chief administrator in Hamilton and Burlington.
The review will examine Ontario’s eight regional municipalities (Halton, York, Durham, Waterloo, Niagara, Peel, Muskoka District and Oxford County), the County of Simcoe and their lower-tier municipalities.
Neither man is the type to bend to political pressure, said Harry Kitchen, professor emeritus at Trent University, who has worked closely with them.
“I don’t know if the premier has a preconceived notion of what needs to be done, but if he does, he’s picked the wrong two guys,” said Kitchen. “They’re honest, thorough, fair, I’ve never seen them in a position where they got pushed around in any political manner. I don’t expect it now.”
Kitchen was the provincially appointed commissioner for the restructuring of Victoria County, which became the City of Kawartha Lakes, when Fenn was deputy minister of municipal affairs and housing.
He was the provincially appointed commissioner to review the regional government of Niagara in 1988-89, when Fenn was the city manager in Burlington.
“He has a vast knowledge of municipal affairs,” he said of Fenn.
Kitchen also worked on a project for the Region of Waterloo in the 1990s when Seiling was regional chair.
Fenn and Seiling have been tasked with consulting munici- pal leaders and staff, municipal and business stakeholders, members of the public and communities and organizations if necessary, and then deliver advice to the minister of municipal affairs and housing based on their expertise and assessment of the feedback.
Seiling said the government is expecting some results by early summer.
Fenn said he didn’t think the tight deadline would be a problem.
“We have been involved in and around these issues for decades. We don’t need a whole lot of background or getting up to speed.”
Fenn is the founding CEO of the regional transportation authority Metrolinx, as well as the regional health authority Mississauga Halton LHIN.
He helped restructure Burlington’s city hall, crafted Hamilton’s amalgamation and worked on early iterations of Ontario’s Greenbelt and Places to Grow initiatives, according to a Hamilton Spectator profile in 2008. He researches and writes extensively on infrastructure and public policy and is now a management consultant specializing in the public sector and health care.
“I’m a lifelong public servant; I’m used to working with political leadership,” Fenn said.
“I understand that the elected representatives of the people have a right to give broad direction in terms of our public policy and I think that’s entirely legitimate and appropriate. I am just an adviser. Obviously, I have my point-of-view, my professional credibility and my conscience, so those things would also be engaged.”
During his tenure as Waterloo Region chair, Seiling sat on a number of boards and commissions, including the Waterloo Regional Police Services Board, the Grand River Conservation Authority and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario board. He was a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to the community.
He said he’s pleased to be working with Fenn.
“The two of us together, I like to think, will be a pretty good team.”