Decision to downsize County of Simcoe council deferred to province

County of Simcoe council will leave whether to cut its size nearly in half up to the province.

Simcoe County councillors have had months of debate over whether to cut its council size nearly in half with that decision now landing at Queen’s Park, with council voting to ask the province to intervene on the contentious issue.

The motion for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to intervene was passed in Tuesday’s meeting with councillors divided in favour and against the idea of downsizing.

“If it’s not done by the province, it would be status quo. There would be no change in governance at all,” said Basil Clarke, County of Simcoe warden.

The County council’s current composition is a mayor and deputy mayor from each municipality for a total of 32 members, plus a part-time warden from within.

The proposed change would see only the mayors remaining, along with a full-time warden, reducing council to a total of 17 members.

“The House is almost unanimous that we did want a full-time warden,” added Clarke. ”But what they’ve decided is, and I can agree with that, 33 is almost too many.”

It is a contentious issue that has been hotly discussed since the spring, which included a protest by some councillors in late March.

• Related | Councillors stage protest during Simcoe County composition vote

Municipalities within the County had until the end of June to vote, resulting in a tie with eight in favour of downsizing and eight against.

“The process says that a tie vote is a no-vote,” said Brian Smith, Wasaga Beach mayor, who is among those opposed. “If we make bad decisions because we have too much on our plate and we don’t have a good debate, you know, does that end up costing us more or doesn’t it?”

Bill Gordon, Midland’s mayor, supported the change. “We can get the same work done with a smaller, more nimble, agile group of councillors,” said Gordon. “We all do the same work anyway. We have to read the same reports, we bring the same experience. More is not always more. Less is more.”

Mike Burkett, Severn Township’s mayor, called for an equal vote instead of a weighted vote. “I just wanted the weighted vote removed so that we’re all equal sitting on that floor. So that each member had one vote.”

Council also needed a triple majority to change its composition but only got two of the three requirements, hence the need for the province to step in.

Warden Clarke and County staff are expected to deliver their letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing by the end of the week.