Collingwood's mayor wants the province to understand political boundaries are invisible and that municipal residents and governments often end up with a foot on each side of the line.
Referencing the unofficial region of South Georgian Bay, Mayor Yvonne Hamlin explained to a provincial committee that Collingwood is part of a region spread across two counties and five municipalities, which can make it difficult to push forward on regional priorities.
Mayor Yvonne Hamlin attended a hearing on Jan. 17 in Vaughan of the standing committee on heritage, infrastructure and cultural policy. It was one of only three hearings scheduled so far that Simcoe County representatives have attended, only one of which was hosted in Simcoe County, in Barrie.
“I took the opportunity to go there, as no sessions will be held in Collingwood,” Hamlin told CollingwoodToday.
The province's standing committee on heritage, infrastructure and cultural policy is holding public hearings across Ontario with a goal of reviewing municipalities in Ontario with two tiers of government, including the County of Simcoe.
As an upper-tier municipality, the County of Simcoe — which consists of 16 member municipalities, not including the separated cities of Barrie and Orillia — is responsible for a range of municipal services including social housing, ambulance and emergency planning, environmental services, a county road system, Ontario Works, children's services, long-term care, museum, archives, forests, tourism and land-use policy planning.
Lower-tier municipalities (towns and townships) are responsible for water and sewer services, local roads, public libraries, recreation services, fire and police services, land-use development control, licensing and permitting services.
Hamlin said her purpose in attending the Jan. 17 hearing was two-fold.
First, she wanted to push the province again on infrastructure, specifically when it comes to the town’s water treatment plant expansion.
“I am taking every opportunity available to let provincial politicians know that Collingwood has a significant infrastructure need,” she said. “Funding assistance is required from the province to make this happen.”
Second, Hamlin explained at the hearing how difficult it can be for South Georgian Bay to work together as a whole while straddling two different upper-tier governments: the County of Simcoe and Grey County. The line separating the two counties is the boundary between Collingwood and The Blue Mountains.
“Because the boundaries of the towns to be served do not line up neatly with county boundaries, there is no one regional level of government to provide assistance in our case,” she explained.
Hamlin said she also hoped to start a discussion with the province about specific resources needed to help South Georgian Bay deliver services more efficiently.
“No one town has extra staff available to work on solutions benefiting our area, and no one town has the tax revenue to study and implement solutions for South Georgian Bay,” she said.
Specifically, she is pushing the province for an option to co-ordinate services across county lines better, for example with transit, transportation, employee housing, water treatment and sewage treatment.
“This is happening now, only a bit,” she said, pointing to the Small Business Enterprise Centre as an example, which is based in Collingwood but serves small businesses across South Georgian Bay.
“We could use the province’s help and resources in sorting out the best way to do this,” said Hamlin.
As of this week, there are no further hearings scheduled in Simcoe County for the regional governance review.
However, on Jan. 9, County of Simcoe council endorsed a motion requesting that another hearing be held at the Simcoe County Administration Centre in Midhurst as part of the formal review process, so that the county, along with its 16 member municipalities and two separated cities, can consult and provide further input.
During a Collingwood council meeting on Feb. 5, Deputy Mayor Tim Fryer put forward a motion which was passed unanimously for staff to report back on an appropriate process for Collingwood to come up with a position on the regional governance review, that Collingwood would present to the province if another hearing takes place in Simcoe County.
“We are trying to get the work done to decide what further information we would like to have put forward over and above anything that has already been presented by other parties,” Fryer told CollingwoodToday last week.
To read the full transcript of Hamlin’s Jan. 17 comments, click here.
