Amalgamate or stay a 2-tier system? Residents, politicians to voice their thoughts at meeting Thursday

Community members and politicians in Waterloo region will have a chance to voice their thoughts on regional governance, including whether the region should amalgamate or stay the course as a two-tier municipality.

A committee hearing is being held at the Crowne Plaza in Kitchener Thursday where representatives from a standing committee on heritage, infrastructure and cultural policy will hear from 22 delegates.

Municipal Affairs Housing Minister Paul Calandra wrote to the committee in September asking members to review two-tier municipalities in the province.

Cambridge resident Dan Clements is part of the list of delegates and says the region would be more efficient and stronger as one municipality. 

"A few things that I've seen are the division of responsibilities between the City of Cambridge and the region. It doesn't make it easy for citizens to relate. There's two stacks of structure to deal with," Clements told CBC News. 

"We're now a pretty big city and a very successful region and we have every opportunity to do so much more by being united rather than being separate individual groups."

Clements said if the region were to amalgamate, there would need to be a system in place for residents to be represented at the table.

"There would be fewer elected officials and there would be more centralized decision making, so it's really important that there should be a local committee or group or process whereby local citizens have access to the system," he said.

Bill 23 and housing

North Dumfries Mayor Sue Foxton will also be a delegate at the hearing Thursday, focusing on Bill 23, the province's More Homes Built Faster Act.

"The way they've left it leaves everyone up in the air — regional staff as well as the municipalities. They need to proclaim Bill 23 and get it done so all of us can move forward," she said.

Foxton said she will also talk about her stance on keeping a two-tier governance system in Waterloo region, but she said she would like to see it become more efficient to "get rid of duplications." 

Foxton added the two tier system has been working well regionally and feels her township has a strong voice at regional council.

Regional councillor Jim Erb will not be delegating at the hearing, but sent a written submission voicing his strong support for a single-tier municipality.

"We need to advocate for more funding for municipal services, for health care and we're competing in a global community so I think with one voice we're able to do that much more effectively than we are with eight municipal governments," he said.

Erb said it would also help with the construction of infrastructure, housing and affordable housing, as well as securing infrastructure financing for the region more effectively. 

"How many housing departments do we need in the municipality to build more affordable housing? Is the goal, do we want to build more departments in the municipalities or do we want to create more housing?" he said.