By Pepper Parr
June 26th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The Staff report was a post-election review of what took place and any lessons learned.
We did learn that the turnout was as bad as it could get and that the city spent $598,190.00 up from $495,543 in 2018
Part of the report included a section on ward boundaries changes. The last ward boundary review for the City of Burlington took place in 2004/2005 with implementation for the 2006 municipal election. After review six ward boundaries were redrawn and seven-member council composition was maintained. Despite the growth and development in the City, ward boundaries have not changed since then.
There have been calls to redraw or change the boundaries of Wards 1 & 2 to include the neighbourhood of Mapleview in Ward 2.
Spot boundary changes are not feasible and require a wholesome approach of reviewing the boundaries of all wards. Key to the ward boundary review is ensuring extensive public consultation throughout the process leading up to passing of any by-laws to re-draw any existing ward boundaries.
Any by-law establishing new boundaries must be in force before January 1 of the election year which would be January of 2026
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The by-law establishing new ward boundaries may be appealed to LPAT, and in order for the boundaries to be permanent, the notices of appeal must be withdrawn, or the Tribunal must have issued an order to affirm or amend the by-law before January 1 of the election year.
Sufficient lead time is required to be factored into any ward boundary review timeline. Staff recommends a ward boundary review to ensure that the division of wards in the City reflects widely adopted principles of effective representation.
Staff are recommending that committee/Council direct them to prepare a preliminary report. If there are additional items or aspects that need review, the direction should be amended to reflect these additions. Some municipalities have delayed undertaking their ward boundary review, due to the Regional reviews that are in progress by the Province.
In planning for the 2026 election, the team hopes to streamline processes and find efficiencies where possible, however, the planned budget must consider inflationary cost impacts and additional costs for any new initiatives undertaken.
Should the team receive direction to prepare the preliminary ward boundaries review report for Q1 2024, any costs associated will be covered by the current operating budget. Pending the approval of the proposed report in Q1 2024, staff will work with Finance to build a business case based on approved scope for the proposed ward boundary review, and municipal comparators.
Source of Funding
The source of funding for the election is the reserve fund with an annual contribution of $160,000. The Election Team will work with Finance and ensure due diligence to put forth a business case if it is determined that an increase in the contribution is required.
Mayor Meed Ward put some expansive thinking on the table.
City is growing – shouldn’t the size of Council grow as well? Maybe – but by how much?
That was what Staff put on the table. The Mayor had a bigger idea. “Why stop at looking at the ward boundaries – could we not also look at the size of Council ?” she asked.
Meed Ward said: “I thought it might be good to ask this question in public and with counsel just to see where folks heads are at and I’m wondering if the this review the boundary review would also be an opportunity to review Council size and if that’s contemplated as part of this review and if not, whether committee would like to review Council size as part of this conversation.”
City Clerk Kevin Arjoon followed saying: “That is why we put that recommendation in there – seeking direction. So if there’s anything you want us to look at that may be a little off the drawing of the lines, now’s the time to let us know so that we can start to work on that and start to conceptualize that build – this conversation is timely.”
Meed Ward then said: “I am very interested in that being at least part of the discussion we have with the community. If it requires an amendment to the report, I’m happy to insert the words and a review of council size and see where the conversation goes. So I will move that and then see what my colleagues think about that.”
Councillor Stolte: Likes the idea of Councillors at large
Councillor Stolte who had her own ideas on what a future city council might look like thanked the mayor for “bringing that up. I think that’s a great idea. Would it also be able to include wording that might indicate a new format? We have had conversations in the past about councillors at large and other options that that might be available. Would we need to have something like that in there or does Council size kind of encompass all of that?”
“Yes”, said the Mayor, “I’m open to a completely holistic conversation with the community. I think that we owe ourselves that. I would look to the clerk to determine how specific you want us to be. Maybe it’s including Council size and composition, if that’s a word that captures, how Council is constituted or some other word if you can. Council size and governance. I don’t know I’m open but if we can have another word in there, that would kind of signal we’re interested in the full range of options to come back. I’m in your hands on that and completely supportive of that.”
“I think the conversation we just had is just fine. And I think in the end the governance model could be put into the review as well.”
Councillor Sharman followed with: “My only question with this. I think it should be evaluated and I think it’s good to review. But the question is the process for that review could be quite significant, quite a bit more than what we’re looking at right now. That require additional resources, a different time frame.
Councillor Sharman: But the question is the process for that review could be quite significant, quite a bit more than what we’re looking at right now.
“How much are we opening up here and what can we look at and what would we be expecting because the public aspect would probably be quite important and not what was envisaged in the report. Maybe Kevin, that’d be a question for you.”
Clerk Arjoon responds with: “We have a bit of time so I think the one worry would have is on the staff side and the timing in terms of the deadlines.
“I think we have to have the boundary set before the election year. And then there’s also the appeal process too. So we’ll take that into consideration when we bring that report back in Q1 2024 But we needed some direction now for some preliminary research and maybe some preliminary engagement before we brought back sort of preliminary report as well.
“So I think that’s just where we’re coming from as well – resources. We’re working on that in the background for sure. In terms of the resourcing for the ward boundary review, and then staffing resources in the clerk’s office. So we are working on that and we’re mindful of that as well.”
Chair Galbraith: “Okay, sounds good – seeing no further questions I’ll just read it into the record.
“Receive and file report CL-07-23 regarding the 2022 municipal election review, and direct the office of the city clerk to prepare a report on a potential city of Burlington Ward boundary review for consideration. The report should include timelines, a proposed budget scope and a review of council size and governance model by Q1 2024.
“Any questions or comments? Seeing none, I will now call the vote – reminder to raise your hands – all those in favour. And any opposed? Seeing none that carries.”
And just what could this mean – get ready for the amount of work this is going to involve and how this council will tie itself in knots getting to the point where anything gets changed – unless of course the province comes in and does to the Region of Halton what it just did to the Region of Peel.
This whole debate sounds like political bafflegab. I was present for the original downsizing of Council, and while there was much debate, the idea of a more efficient Council process at slightly less cost won the day. That was, however, at a time where our Council was focused on controlling costs and improving efficiency and citizen engagement, the opposite of where the current Council seems to be going.
No where in these discussions, are the reasons why boundaries need to be addressed (except time since last review), and need to increase Council size? Are the Councillors over worked with too many constituent issues … How has the Deputy Mayor concept progressed, noteable benefits and to whom, cost of added resourses, etc. What will the impact of these issues be should the Region be collapsed. Efficiencies need to be always top of mind.
Let’s start being more careful with our resourses and spending given the possibility of futher tax increases and limited reserves.
To Grahame, Burlington Municioal Elections have been available on line for some time now. We voted on line in past 2 elections.
We could cut that cost for elections by opening up to on-line ballots.I have been voting for a decade at least in a very small and poor area in cottage country.Works just fine since many property owners are a long way away at election time.