Kitchener, Cambridge Mayors expressing optimism with Ontario municipality reviews

By Mark Pare

Any opportunity to have more dialogue with the Doug Ford government is a good thing.

That's the sentiment gathered from both Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic and Cambridge Mayor Kathryn McGarry in response to the province's decision to put 82 municipalities in Ontario under the microscope, including Waterloo Region.

“I think this is a great opportunity for us to discuss how to best serve the residents and businesses of Kitchener and Waterloo Region,” Vrbanovic tells 570 NEWS, “We have, in my view, one of the best run regions in the province, and through this process, I'm confident we'll be able to share some of our best practices with other across the province.”

“The more efficient we can make our services, the better our constituents are, in the services that they are getting,” added McGarry, “But also, we are very conscious here that we are part of a region.”

“Cambridge has always tried to find ways to make things more efficient.  One quick example from the Region of Waterloo last week was that we provided a resolution to the government, to ask the provincial government to allow the Region of Waterloo to run the ambulance service.  And we feel that that's a much more efficient way of doing it.”

The review will look at Waterloo Region, as well as Halton, York, Durham, Niagara, Peel, Muskoka District, Oxford County, the County of Simcoe and their lower-tier municipalities, with one of the things experts will look at is whether two-tier structures are appropriate for all of the municipalities.

It's also raising the possibility of eventual amalgamations, something long time Cambridge residents are familiar with, flashing back to 1973 when the city was formed by the amalgamation of Preston, Galt, Hespeler, Blair, and small portions of surrounding townships.

Two people are conducting the review:  Recently retired Regional Chair Ken Seiling, and former Deputy Minister and founding CEO of Metrolinx Michael Fenn, two people Vrbanovic believes are “very capable” of doing this task.

Seiling and Fenn are expected to give recommendations to the province by early summer.

Both Vrbanovic and McGarry are cautioning that it's too early right now to speculate on what will come of the review.

Vrbanovic, for his part, believes the review should have three clear objectives in mind.

“Delivering the best quality services in the most efficient and cost effective way posssible to our residents, ensuring our community continues to be one of the province's economic drivers in term of job creation and growth,” he said, “And most importantly – ensure our citizens have the best possible representation in terms of governments, and our community continues to be one of the best places to live, work and play in Ontario and in Canada.”

McGarry adds everyone can work together to find efficiencies the province is asking for, and continue to work towards “a better, more efficient model of service delivery here in Cambridge, as well as the Region of Waterloo.”

Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark says in a statement that the aim is to improve how regional government works, make better use of taxpayer money and make it easier for people and businesses to access services.

The move comes after the Progressive Conservative government slashed the size of Toronto's city council nearly in half last year.

With files from The Canadian Press.

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