Archive

Can Dufferin adapt to change?

January 15, 2018   ·   0 Comments

Editorial

DUFFERIN COUNTY is probably unique, in the sense that while other parts of Ontario have witnessed counties amalgamating or being renamed “regions,” in 1881 Dufferin was carved out from three large counties, in part because local residents wanted to be closer to a county seat.

At the time of its formation and well into the 20th Century the county had just one town (Orangeville) with a population of about 2,000, and two villages, Shelburne and Grand Valley. The vast majority of its population was rural.

Appropriately, the county’s six townships dominated County Council, each sending their reeves and deputy reeves, The three urban centres all sent their reeves and Orangeville was represented by both its reeve and deputy reeve (but not its mayor!).

Over the years, Dufferin’s townships became depopulated as the result of a sharp decline in the number of farms, and in recent years Orangeville’s population has soared from about 3,000 in the 1950s to today’s roughly 30,000 – almost half the total Dufferin population of about 62,000. And the county now has three other fast-growing towns in Mono, Shelburne and Grand Valley with a combined population that could soon approach 20,000.

Sadly, this transformation of Dufferin from an overwhelmingly rural to a mainly urban population has not been reflected in the county’s government, so that unless changes are made before this year’s municipal elections, Mulmur’s 3,500 residents will send the same two representatives to next year’s Council sessions as Orangeville, both being represented by a mayor and deputy mayor.

Granted, a “weighted vote” system does give Orangeville’s representatives a lot of clout on some issues, but we’ve never seen any cogent explanation for giving one politician five times the clout of one sitting beside him.

Something else that hasn’t changed over the years is the selection of a warden from within the ranks of county council members for one-year terms, at a time when municipal councils are elected for four years.

Clearly, a warden experiencing a single year in office has barely enough time to acquaint himself or herself with the county staff, let alone do some long-term planning for the county. Just as clearly, we’ve never seen any justification for retaining either the appointment system or the one-year terms.

Is there really any valid reason Dufferin could not at long last move to the election of its warden for the same four-year terms as council members?

As we see it, the growing areas of responsibility at the county level have created a situation where the wardenship ought to be a full-time job, with the occupant not having to be a member of a local council.

As for the council itself, we think the time has come to turf the “weighted votes” in favour of a council in which each member represents roughly the same number of residents. Based on current populations, Orangeville might be entitled to five members (the mayor, deputy mayor and three councillors), while Mono and Shelburne would continue to have two members and the other five municipalities one each.

Something else that ought to be addressed as the need for Dufferin to become involved in some jurisdictional areas, three examples being fire, recreation and library services.

As we see it, all residents of the county need fire protection and it makes no sense for this service to be left at the local level rather than being provided by the county in much the same way as the Town of Caledon, with a similar population and land mass, has one fire department but fire stations in urban centres like Alton, Inglewood and Mono Mills.

Similarly, libraries and recreation centres could and should be a county responsibility, since many users come from outside the immediate area.

Readers Comments (0)