Burlington Council Directs Staff to Develop Recommended Strategy for Province's Regional Government Review Process

Burlington City Council unanimously approved a staff direction, amended by Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Councillor Paul Sharman, to develop a recommended strategy for the Province's Regional Government Review process. Read the full staff direction and the Mayor's 'My Take' further down this post.Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Hon. Paul Calandra recently announced he has asked the legislature’s Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure & Cultural Policy to take on the work of assessing regional government structures in Durham, Halton, Niagara, Simcoe, Waterloo and York. In his letter to the Standing Committee, Minister Calandra noted, the study could shed light on the following:

• Is two-tier government in these regions supporting or hindering the construction of new homes and the provision of effective local governance more generally?
• Are there responsibilities and services that could be combined, amended, or moved from one level of local government to another, or combined among existing local governments to support the construction of new homes and the provision of effective local government more generally?
• Is the municipal governance structure within each of these regions supporting the construction of new homes and the provision of effective local governance more generally?
• Could any changes to regional governance enhance local services and/or provide better value to taxpayers?

STAFF DIRECTION APPROVED AT COUNCILThe full staff direction that was unanimously approved at Council is below. Read the City Manager's report here: CM-14-23 Prep for Regional Review.pdf

• Direct the City Manager following the announcement of the regional facilitator for Halton on September 11, 2023 to report back to the Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability Committee at their meeting of October 4, 2023 with a full update on the provincial regional review process and a recommended strategy for the City of Burlington including key actions, milestone dates and community engagement plan, in keeping with the framework outlined in city manager’s office report CM-14-23; and
• Direct the City Manager to report back to council in conjunction with the 2024 budget process on proposed organizational design options and recommendations to address both a) future city service delivery impacts related to the regional review process and b) Council’s strategic priority of accelerating new housing development application and permit approvals to enable achievement Burlington Housing Pledge (minimum 29,000 units by 2031).

MAYOR'S MY TAKE:Now that the Province's Regional Government Review process will not be done by appointed facilitators, but rather by the Legislature’s Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure & Cultural Policy, municipalities will now have the opportunity to share feedback with the Standing Committee through a delegation or submitted written comments. So, we are asking our City staff to bring Council options on what to convey to the Standing Committee conducting the regional government review in Halton and I know council will receive those options with an open mind. We need to know that any changes in Halton Region and affecting the City of Burlington is made to benefit to our residents and community. It’s really important to look at duplicated services across Halton's lower-tier municipalities.We are starting to shape the principles we’ve identified collectively as a Council around regional review. We don’t want to have simply things done to us, we want to be equipped with the options that benefit our community as a whole and we give that feedback to the Standing Committee. Council and City staff are going through this process really well, and asking staff for options is the next step for having an open discussion with our community, while having a future focus in mind.