While the province moves ahead with plans to dissolve Peel Region and proceed with a facilitation review of other upper-tier regional governments, one former local politician believes Simcoe County will not meet the same fate.
Former Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop, who served as reeve for the Village of Coldwater from 1982 to 1994 and was county warden in 1998, has experienced first-hand both the pros and cons of the previous amalgamation process that saw 32 municipalities shrink to 16 in the mid-1990s.
“Basically, all of the villages were eliminated. They put villages in with townships and amalgamated parts of townships. It was very controversial at the time,” he said in an interview with BarrieToday.
Dunlop also recalled a plan in the 1970s presented by Darcy McKeough, who was the province’s minister of municipal affairs at the time, to create only four municipalities in Simcoe County, including Barrie and Orillia. That plan didn’t surprise Dunlop at the time and it still doesn’t surprise him now.
“We had a fight at the time, because you have the identity of all of the little villages, but in the end, it was a good thing because we had more money to work with,” he said. “We had our community, but then we had an expanded community.”
Despite the initial concerns from the municipalities at the time, Dunlop believes it was ultimately the right move and has only served to benefit the residents of the entire county over the years.
Dunlop, who was a Progressive Conservative MPP from 1999 to 2015, believes Simcoe County has been a leader in regional municipalities throughout the province.
“I think the County of Simcoe will have to stay … because they are already responsible for things like ambulance services, they have 30,000 acres of county forest … I could go on and on with the benefits. The county has been, in my opinion, the top in the province as an example,” he said.
“If anything happens (with restructuring), I think it will involve going to the Darcy McKeough model where Barrie, Orillia and all of the other municipalities may amalgamate into two, three, four or five municipalities.”
Although Barrie and Orillia are currently separated cities, both municipalities pay into the county coffers for several services, including paramedics and social housing.
Dunlop said he’d be hard-pressed to see where either city doesn’t benefit from the help of the upper-tier government.
“Personally, I don’t see anywhere at all where the City of Barrie or Orillia is being abused by the county. Everything that goes on in Barrie and Orillia — for example, the hospital, university, colleges — they come to the County of Simcoe and contribute a lot more money than the cities of Barrie or Orillia do,” he said.
“The County of Simcoe is a great partner, and anybody that is speaking on behalf of Barrie, they better know what they are talking about. Barrie has got their problems and the county has their problems, but I think (Simcoe) is probably the top county in the province.”
The county has formally requested engagement and facilitation with the province on planning and co-ordination of growth-related services, something that was done through a motion at the May 23 meeting of council.
That request by council to be included in the provincial review makes sense, Dunlop said.
“I think it’s inevitable. The population growth in the GTA is expanding. Some of the municipalities are having a difficult time surviving with the demands they have (now) and what taxpayers expect,” he said. “I can easily see municipalities amalgamating. When Severn Township was created, I think we did a pretty good job of it, but Severn Township today would have no trouble amalgamating with Ramara, Tay or Tiny (townships). There should be cost savings.”
Currently, much of that growth is being seen in municipalities in southern Simcoe County, such as Bradford West Gwillimbury, but Dunlop said other areas of the county should also expect to see similar growth in the years to come.
“It’s coming here regardless. You might amalgamate and make Bradford stronger, but in 10 years’ time, Springwater Township and Tiny Township are going to be in the same boat as Bradford is now,” he said. “It’s going to hit the whole county, and I think for that reason alone is why you want to keep the County of Simcoe strong.”
Even though it has been nearly 30 years since the county last went through the amalgamation process, Dunlop said he believed then it was merely the first step of many to find better efficiencies and improvements.
“I could see there would be more. Economic development and the need for large water and sewer systems is going to demand that,” he said. “I can’t see the day when there will be no Simcoe of County council. I think it would be a huge mistake (and) I think the county has shown true leadership.”
Midland Mayor Bill Gordon is of a similar mind. He also says he can’t see the province dissolving the County of Simcoe, but he told BarrieToday he could see a renewed push to amalgamation of some smaller communities in the region, if for no other reasons than for the efficiencies and cost savings that could come from the reduction of duplicate governance and the supporting executive/operations branches of some candidate municipalities.
“I suspect that recommendations like this formed part of the elusive municipal comprehensive review that the province undertook last term and then never shared with anyone external to the ministry,” he said.
As for the more urban communities in northern Simcoe County, including neighbouring Midland and Penetanguishene, Gordon noted they already share several services such as transit, building inspection and a fire chief.
“We’re in constant talks to share more as each efficiency presents itself. If we were amalgamated, it would mean one council, one CAO, one clerk, and unified operational departments,” he said.
“It could be done, but we’d ask for some autonomy over the process to carefully manage the unique language and cultural mix that defines each of us. Our rural neighbours don’t have the breadth of services or infrastructure to ever go it alone, and simply smashing us all together would create negative economic impact and inequity that could only be managed with significant government subsidies, which would deter the rationale for amalgamation.”
Penetanguishene Mayor Doug Rawson echoed his municipal neighbour’s sentiments, telling BarrieToday he doesn’t see the county going anywhere. That said, he does understand there could be an opportunity to find efficiencies through regionalization.
“Perhaps the government is going to force that conversation on us, and if they do, great,” Rawson said. “The community members up here don’t see borders. They just want seamless access to services across the lines, and I think it’s upon us to find the efficiencies so that there are no borders.”
Bradford West Gwillimbury Mayor James Leduc said amalgamation should be on the table.
“Does the current structure of 16 lower-tier municipalities present the most efficient and effective approach to meeting the fiscal challenges of the future? I doubt it, but we need to review our options thoroughly and consider all relevant data,” Leduc said. “The provincial facilitator can help us with this review — if we’re looking at ways to enhance service delivery at the county level, we should collectively be doing the same at the municipal level.”
Peel Region, with its 1.5 million people, is three times the population of Simcoe County, one-quarter of the area and is dominated by two of the largest cities in Canada, Leduc noted.
“In comparison, municipalities in Simcoe County, even if amalgamations occur, will be too small to individually manage the services currently delivered by the county,” he said. “I do think we need to fully assess who delivers which service, but I continue to believe that a revamped, two-tier governance model will best serve our taxpayers.”
Bradford West Gwillimbury is no stranger to shared services. Bradford and Innisfil currently share policing through the South Simcoe Police Service.
