Regional Chair and Mayor Roles Remain Separate in Waterloo

Waterloo regional councillors expressed their disagreement with the idea of having one person take on both the roles of regional chair and mayor during Wednesday night’s council meeting.

The council voted unanimously in favor of a motion introduced by Coun. Doug Craig against merging these two positions.

“I think the motion is basically sending a message to Queen’s Park that we found, yes, this is an affront to local democracy,” he said.

This decision follows Ontario’s announcement regarding plans to appoint a regional chair in April after passing Bill 100, known as the Better Regional Governance Act, in May. This law allows the province to appoint regional chairs in eight areas, including Waterloo region. In the past, residents voted for their chairs during municipal elections.

The province has also not made it clear whether a mayor could be appointed as regional chair while holding both roles at once.

Craig mentioned that this motion aims to uphold transparency. He initially presented it at the council’s Aug. 11 meeting, stating that the notion of a mayor being regional chair was “incomprehensible.”

He raised concerns about a mayor taking on a regional chair role and having access to both strong mayor and strong chair powers.

“If you’re a mayor, for example, it’s a 24-7 commitment. There is absolutely no way you could possibly do the regional job and I don’t know why [the province] would consider something like this.”

Councillor raises ‘fairness’ concerns

Coun. Pam Wolf, who seconded the motion, noted that combining the authority of a mayor and regional chair might concentrate too much power in one person’s hands.

“I’m also concerned about fairness to the other municipalities within the region. The chair’s role is to represent the interests of the entire region, not a single municipality.”

Waterloo Mayor Dorothy Mc Cabe also highlighted that the Association of Municipalities of Ontario has taken a firm position against Bill 100.

Mc Cabe stated that AMO is urging the province to reverse this legislation and keep democratic elections for heads of council intact.

“Municipalities represented by their caucus representatives from across every corner of Ontario also are opposed to this direction and Bill 100.”

The resolution will be sent on to the premier, along with the minister of municipal affairs and housing, as well as local MPPs.

It will additionally be forwarded to area municipalities and affected regional municipalities.

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