Burlington Mayor & Councillors Delegate at Province's Standing Committee for Regional Governance Review

This morning, Councillors Paul Sharman and Rory Nisan, and I delegated at the Province's Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure & Cultural Policy for its study on regional governance structures in Ontario as overseen by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing -- held at the Burlington Convention Centre.This is the second regional governance review the Province has undertaken - the first was in 2019.Burlington Council has been proactive in ensuring our voices, and the interests of the residents we serve, are represented during this phase of the review. The three of us each spoke to different aspects of the regional government review and our goal of doing our part in seeing more homes get built faster.For a transcript of my full public remarks, please see below. A copy of Councillor Sharman's remarks and Councillor Nisan's remarks are also available via the links.Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr and private citizen Marsha Paley also delegated at the Regional Review. Click/tap their respective links to view copies of their remarks.A transcript from the Province of the Jan. 11 Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure & Cultural Policy hearing on regional governance is also available here.

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Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward's Delegation at the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural PolicyStudy on regional governance as overseen by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and HousingThursday, January 11, 2024Burlington Convention Centre--Good morning. My name is Marianne Meed Ward and I am the Mayor of Burlington. I’d like to wish you a warm welcome here in Burlington today. Thank you for coming to our city and for the opportunity to present to you this morning.I’d also like to acknowledge previous speakers: Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr; Marsha Paley, Chief Administrative Office from the Municipality of North Middlesex; and Oakville Mayor Rob Burton; as well as my two colleagues on Burlington City Council Rory Nisan and Paul Sharman.The three of us will each be speaking about different aspects of the Regional Government review and our goal of enabling the building of more homes faster and we welcome this opportunity to share them with you.BACKGROUND:We applaud the provincial government for looking at every lever to get more shovels in the ground, including a review of Regional services. We remain a committed partner in that goal. Burlington Council has unanimously adopted our pledge of 29,000 units, and currently have more than 41,000 housing units in our development pipeline. On a related note, next month, we start meeting monthly through a new Council approved standing committee I established called “Pipeline to Permit.”  The new PTP committee will meet monthly and has as its primary goal, the achievement of Burlington’s housing pledge.

*Chart below is as of October 2023

CONSENSUS & PRINCIPLES:We are aware the government is hoping for consensus among municipalities before making changes in a particular Region. There are, of course, varying perspectives among municipalities and elected representatives on how best to ultimately deliver services, but here’s where we have broad consensus:

1. We remain opposed to a "MegaCity" of Halton. Thousands of our residents, and Halton Regional Council, unanimously opposed a megacity when Regional Review was first launched in 2019. You listened then, and we believe you will continue to listen and that isn’t on the table.
2. We are open to finding service enhancements and better value for residents particularly through eliminating any duplication or redundancy that exists between City and Regional services.
3. We all support the transition of planning services to local municipalities from the Region and in Burlington’s case, that decision was made in April 2023. We thank you for making that change, and add our voices to those requesting the Ministry expedite this shift through final enactment of Bill 23. Delays in that transition will duplicate effort and cost and continue to delay housing delivery.
4. The need for the services provided by the Region will continue, even if governance changes occur.

WHAT BURLINGTON HAS DONE:Burlington Council has been proactive in ensuring our voices, and the interests of the residents we serve, are represented during this second Regional Review. Burlington council unanimously endorsed a resolution that:

• we are open to consideration of all feasible governance options, except amalgamation into a mega-city of Halton;
• governance changes should be supported by the local-tier councils;
• decisions ultimately be based on:
  • community engagement;
  • the delivery of better services, at a reduced cost, improving the overall quality of life for current and future residents and businesses; and
  • needed community infrastructure is funded through development or by seniors levels of government.

Local government is the closest to the people and we understand the needs of our communities best. Imposed solutions from the Province without consultation with local governments isn't beneficial.We have already started that review process ourselves. To that end, Burlington Council, just two days ago, directed our City Manager to report back by Q1 2024 with a process, timing, and tax implications for existing “non-essential” services delivered by both levels of government that can be devolved to the city.These are services that directly relate to the broader housing goal of building complete communities that is more than simply units of housing, and include the following:

• Roads, Transportation and Traffic Control;
• Storm water management;
• Culture, recreation, and heritage;
• Drainage and flood control; and
• Economic Development, including small business support.

I believe we are ready and can assume these services, with the associated budgets from the Region, and I believe we can deliver them faster and better for our residents by eliminating duplication and thereby enabling housing by speeding up approvals.But, we will get the information from our staff before making any decisions, and will continue to look for those better, cheaper, and faster ways to improve services to our residents.The Municipal Act allows for migration of a number of services from the local tier to the upper tier and vice-versa, via a triple majority. That is a high bar, perhaps rightly so, but perhaps it has also stalled meaningful change or updates to Regional structures since they were initiated decades ago. The Province could review that process, for a simpler majority vote so Regional Governments are more agile in governing themselves.WATER/WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING:In addition to the services listed previously, water and wastewater infrastructure -- that is currently delivered exclusively at the Regional level -- needs to be addressed, particularly as it relates to speedy delivery of housing. You can’t sell a house without working sinks and toilets. We have several major parcels of land in Burlington that could deliver thousands of housing units, but don’t currently have any underground servicing infrastructure, and the servicing required would cost in the tens of thousands of dollars per unit – funds that development charges or tax dollars simply can’t cover alone.Regardless of whether the delivery of this essential service shifts from one level of government to another, or is delivered by a utility or service board, the fact is there will be costs that are greater than the ability of the City, Region, taxpayers or the development industry to absorb on our own.And that’s where we most need your help!!PROVINCIAL ASK:Delivery of water/wastewater capacity in a timely and cost-effective manner remains one of our largest impediments to the delivery of more homes built faster.We will not be able to meet our housing targets without provincial and federal government funding for hard infrastructure. And that includes the Building Faster Fund that Regions are not even eligible for. Additionally, municipalities can only qualify for the fund based on the number of housing foundations poured -- that is entirely out of our control. Add to that Bill 23 reducing development charges to pay for these things.We need a sustainable financial plan, and the taxpayers aren’t it.At our Dec. 13, 2023 meeting, Halton Regional Council unanimously carried a resolution put forward by Burlington Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan and seconded by me, requesting a New Deal for Halton Region to address the funding shortfall for cost-shared health and social services programming, the shortfall in development charges revenues, and ensure critical water and wastewater infrastructure is adequately funded to keep pace with growth. (*The resolution is available in from pages 9-11 in the Regional Council minutes linked above.)CONCLUSION:We understand that ultimately residents don’t care which level of government delivers a service, or what governance model is used, as long as they receive good service for good value. It is the local government that is the closest to the people that should provide the service. We are in the best position to know what changes need to be made, and are already initiating a review of those changes ourselves.We can make the necessary changes, and if it requires legislative change, we will come to the Province then.We need your help to:

• Modify the criteria to qualify for the Building Faster Fund eligibility to areas within the municipalities control, such as issuing approvals including building permits that enables construction of units;
• Expand eligibility for funding to Regional governments that deliver water and wastewater infrastructure in a two-tier system, but are not eligible for Provincial funding to build it;
• Work with upper levels of government to provide adequate funding for municipalities so it’s not on the backs of local taxpayers or built into the cost of a new home, pushing affordability further out of reach. There is already work being done by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) on a new municipal funding framework;
• Consider a review of the triple majority provisions to make it easier for Regional Governments to update and make our own changes to governance; and
• Set out a clear process complete with timelines and Provincial directions (similar to what was done in 2023 for devolving planning services) for enabling changes to how Regions and Cities currently deliver services to meet the housing target of 1.5 million homes by 2031.

Thank you.