Statement from Mayor Kathryn McGarry on Regional Government Review

Recently, the Provincial government launched a review of Regional municipalities in Ontario. I met with the two government appointed special advisors, Ken Seiling and Michael Fenn on February 7, the same day they met with all 8 heads of council in Waterloo Region.

This meeting provided me the opportunity to articulate Cambridge’s position, and to convey that while there are opportunities to improve our governance structure, we need to continue to focus on our priorities for our City: economic development, increasing affordable housing and mitigation for the ongoing Opioid crisis.

Overall, I outlined our position, which is centered around four key points:

• Amalgamation into one city is not acceptable
• We would advocate for maintaining a two-tier structure of government
• We would use this review as an opportunity to streamline and improve services, reduce duplication and better align regional and lower tier responsibilities to provide better and more efficient service to taxpayers
• Any changes mandated by the Provincial Government should be designed and driven by the local municipalities

Under the current two-tier system, Waterloo Region has built a reputation for being an exceptional place to live, work and build a life.  Our 7 municipalities have strong urban and rural elements, each with their own history, challenges and priorities. Cambridge overall has benefited from being a part of Waterloo Region  but we look forward to building on our strong successful history of collaborating on shared priorities to provide even more efficiency and equitable benefits to residents and businesses in Cambridge. 

Our exceptional economic development efforts have ensured that Waterloo Region, including Cambridge, is one of Ontario’s strongest economic engines.

Through our partnerships we are able to provide our residents with high quality and affordable public services, such as WRPS, environmental protections, and a shared public transportation system. However, we can be even more flexible and adaptable to issues and make service decisions based on the needs of local residents. 

Our area municipalities are operating relatively efficiently and services are provided at an affordable cost to citizens. Waterloo Region property taxes are generally lower than the Provincial average and similarly sized municipalities across Ontario, and utility rates in our Region are competitive - especially when considering our heavy ground water reliance, the relative age of our infrastructure, and our population density.

However, working with the existing two-tiered model, there are changes we can make that will impact efficiency and benefit our citizens and businesses.

For example, planning authority could be streamlined so the Region would focus on regional policy like maintaining the Countryside line and source water protection. The lower tier municipalities would focus on local land use planning issues to help simplify the planning process for anyone looking to build, renovate or develop.

Additional services which could be at the local level could include municipal licensing, by-law enforcement, and economic development. By providing this increased clarity on which level of government is responsible for which service, we simplify our processes for taxpayers and businesses alike.

Questions were posed from the Province through the mandated 3 questions asked, around our municipal structure and sizes of our local and Regional Council sizes. If the Province wants to reform these areas, they should indicate their end goal and allow our municipalities to define the process on how to achieve municipal restructuring in the best interests of our citizens.

The special advisors aim to have their recommendations to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing by early summer. They will not be consulting publicly but there will be an online submission opportunity.  I will continue to discuss the review with my regional colleagues and welcome suggestions and feedback from Councillors, staff, businesses, and our citizens.

We all want the best possible outcome for Cambridge.

We all want our City and the Region of Waterloo to continue to grow as a thriving, dynamic, compassionate place to call home.

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Primary Media Contact:

Andrew Donnachie
Chief of Staff
Office of the Mayor and Council
City of Cambridge
donnachiea@cambridge.ca