By Pepper Parr
May 8th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Council is being asked to approve the final option on ward boundaries, or a modified version thereof, that will be adopted on May 20th.
Options were set out in a detailed report prepared by Ward & Associates Economists Ltd., the consultants hired by the city to do a required Council Composition and Ward Boundary Review.
The City Clerk will bring forward a by-law reflecting the approved ward boundary option to the May 20, 2025 meeting of Council.
Getting to this point was a long process with little in the way of significant public engagement – the public was invited and events were held in every word – few showed up.
The online survey didn’t fare much better. A total of 216 people responded to the survey, a level of participation the consultants described as “fairly high”.
people responding to some or all questions;
Burlington’s city Council differs in a number of ways from the other three municipalities in the Region.
The makeup of the other Town Council is set out below. A municipality can describe itself as a Town or a City.
Interesting that Halton Hills, a municipality with a population of about one-third that of Burlington, has 11 members while Burlington has just seven.
The ward size and population in 2021 is set out below.
With these fundamentals and the following questions put before them Council will debate and make a recommendation that will go to Council.
Next Steps
Before the Consultant Team can develop ward configurations for 2026 and beyond Council is being asked to consider two key questions:
1. Should all City Councillors also serve on Regional Council?
2. If Regional Councillors do not have to be local Councillors, should Regional Councillors still be elected by ward?
A flow chart outlines the different configurations of council based on the questions presented below:
The delegation that was in Holland commemorating the Liberation of that country in the closing months of WWII will be returning to Canada in the next day or so. One has to wonder if they will have more of an appreciation of just what a democracy is, and if that will impact the decision they make. Or will they forget the sacrifices and focus on their self interest?
The ward set up and the services the city provides Councillors to do their jobs exceeds, by a considerable measure, what other municipalities provide.
The time to increase the size of council is one election past due. As to delegating on the issue, don’t bother, unless you like to hear yourself talk.
The City of Burlington used to have a larger council. In 1989, it had 8 members; a mayor, one councillor for each ward and a councillor at large. The population then was significantly smaller than now. This City needs to increase the council to reflect the increase in population and interests. A larger council would hopefully make it more difficult for the mayor to dominate and manipulate councillors. City councillors should not be regional representatives to enhance greater independence between the two levels of government.
Burlington has an extreme aversion to fair representation for no real reason. It’s especially noticeable when compared to our nearby and far flung neighbours. For example Waterloo, with a size of 125,000 people, has seven councillors plus a mayor! Kitchener, with 280,000, has ten! Both have a separate Regional slate. Yet some Burlington Councillors seem intent on keeping us at 6 + Mayor forever in the name of “fiscal responsibility,” which makes no sense – we need *accountability* first and foremost in this city. Citizens are only going to benefit with more focused Councillors.
It’s beyond time we adopted smaller, more representative wards fit for a city of our size, with populations no more than ~25,000 at the high end (8 wards + Mayor) and no smaller than ~20,000 (10
wards + Mayor). Put our Regional representation on an at-large ballot, separately elected, as they do in Waterloo Region.
Editor’s note. Don’t look to this Council to do something for the public interest.
Would someone please explain why Burlington has only one representative for 27,000 people when Oakville and Halton Hills each has one representative for 14,500 people. Are Burlington councilors trying to concentrate power in their own hands?