6 local mayors want to keep 2-tier governance in Waterloo region, but say modifications needed
Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe says she wasn't invited to the press conference, argues 1 municipality is better
Six of Waterloo region's seven mayors say they want to keep the current two-tier government in place, but want to see changes made to improve services and to build housing faster.
A joint statement from the mayors of Kitchener, Cambridge and the four townships comes at the same time a committee hearing on regional governance by the province took place in Kitchener Thursday.
"Today we are calling on the provincial government to act on the continuation of two-tier local government within the Region of Waterloo with practical yet necessary service delivery and decision making reforms focused on our shared goals with the province of Ontario [to] build more homes faster and continuing to grow our local economy," Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic told reporters Thursday.
Some of the adjustments the mayors want to see is transfer of regional planning to local municipalities in line with Bill 23 by the end of the second quarter of 2024.
This would remove barriers for municipalities to build more infrastructure and homes, they said. Currently, the municipalities approve development proposals, but they need to go through an approval process regionally before shovels can hit the ground.
"We are delayed because of the region not getting back to us," Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett said, noting her city is still waiting for the region to get back to staff on a development that was approved by her city council in August.
"We have a deadline in which to do that and if we don't meet that deadline then we have to give back part of the application fee."
Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen added for the province to meet its 1.5 million home target, dissolving or amalgamating the region will cause "mass disruption."
"There are varying opinions on if amalgamation is actually better or not, but we've really remained focused to what this committee is looking for and the province's aim that we're aligned with," she said.
The mayors said they would also like to see improvements to service delivery for housing related infrastructure and services like roads, traffic control, transportation and bylaw enforcement to reduce duplication.
WATCH | Meeting held in Kitchener to review regional governance:
Developers 'really frustrated'
Regional Chair Karen Redman said she doesn't disagree that doing things twice is more costly. She said having regional services, though, is the fastest way to get homes built in the region.
But she agreed the process should be more streamlined.
"Right now there are 120,000 homes that are being able to be built and they are not being built. We have land, we have developers who have gone through the process," she told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition Friday.
"When I talk to developers they're really frustrated that despite there being one Planning Act, there are seven municipalities with different interpretations and every time they want to move forward they have to go through a different process."
Redman was a delegate at the committee hearing Thursday afternoon. She said she told the committee any change coming to the region needs to benefit residents with greater services.
LISTEN | Regional chair Karen Redman shares what she told committee looking at regional governance:
Waterloo mayor says 1 municipality is better
Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe told CBC News she was not at Thursday's press conference because she wasn't aware it was happening and she wasn't invited.
She also said she has a different perspective on the matter and believes creating one municipality is more efficient now and in the future.
"We're in a time that's really transforming our society," she said.
"When I look ahead and say 'where are we going to be by 2050 and what is the best governing structure to get us there?' For me the reality is being one entire municipality is the way to go."
She said she believes one municipality will also be more cost effective in the long-run.
"We need to be looking at 2050," she said. "It's not going to happen immediately, it will take some time."
McCabe was a delegate at the province's committee hearing on regional governance, and said she wants the committee to look at how a streamlined municipality can meet the province's housing targets more effectively and to think long term.
"We could decide as one municipality what the policies and procedures would be and move ahead much more quickly," she said.
"I think we need to think about our future and what it will look like by 2050. We need to think about what binds our community together and those need to be the key things in our mind as the community makes these decisions."