THUNDER BAY — Council has one month to decide whether to stick with the status quo or make a dramatic shift in the city's democratic process.
Every councillor raised concerns about reducing the size of council and workload pressures if wards become exponentially larger, after a presentation of the council composition committee’s final report on Monday.
At-large councillor Shelby Ch'ng got the discussion rolling by asking the committee how they decided on the final number of 10 councillors (eight ward seats and two at-large seats) plus the mayor.
The number of seats was a bit of a compromise, said Rebecca Johnson, chair of the citizen committee.
“If you go back to the survey, it seems to me that the residents would really like to have about eight on council, not even 10, but we felt that that would be maybe too much, so we felt that the 10 would be more acceptable,” said Johnson.
Johnson said that many residents wanted to see council reduced because of a public perception that there would be a significant cost saving on the city’s operating budget.
No matter where the committee went for public consultation, said Johnson, the question of cost-saving was brought to their attention.
She had the same answer every single time. There would not be any significant savings.
“If anybody asks that question, it was reinforced that there was not going to be a quarter of a million dollars in savings. It’s not happening,” said Johnson.
McIntyre Ward Councillor Albert Aiello pointed out that the committee is also recommending that the city hire administrative assistants to help with the workload which could mean that the city’s budget would increase with new employees.
Reducing the number of council seats could create some efficiencies, said committee vice-chair Cody Fraser, like streamlining decision-making.
“There's a perception in the community that 13 people are too many to make a decision and you debate things for too long and that is inefficient,” said Fraser.
At-large Councillor Kasey Etreni pointed out that reducing the number of council members to 11 would allow residents to vote for 50 per cent fewer candidates.
Currently, voters have a say in seven of their representatives: the mayor, five at-large councillors and one ward councillor.
Under the proposed model, residents could only vote for five representatives, the mayor, two at-large and two ward councillors.
“How is it fair that most of city council won't be chosen by each voter? Does this reduce accountability and representation?” Etreni asked.
Voting for seven candidates can be a barrier for some people, said Fraser. Some will invest their time into learning about who running in their ward, but when it comes to picking five at-large councillors they may be just “ticking a box of somebody who (they) might have (run) into at one point.”
“This way you have two ward councillors, in theory, you have less people running in your ward, maybe, maybe not. Maybe you have a lot of people running, which would be great, but there should probably be less candidates that are competitive,” said Fraser.
“Then you have two at-large, which again in theory you have less candidates that are competitive and you make an informed decision.
"So, I think in part reject the notion that it's less democratic or less representative to vote for less when actually you're getting, in my view, a heightened voice by picking candidates that you know well.”
Northwood Ward Councillor Dominic Pasqualino asked why there was such a significant change to the ward boundary lines and so little change to the size of council when the number of councillors was the crux of the issue for much of the public.
"Why did that happen? Are you surprised by it? And does it really justify a change to the whole system?” asked Pasqualino.
The need to “realign the ward system itself” arose through process of examining council composition, replied Johnson.
“You currently have seven wards that are that are all over the place," she said, while the proposed boundaries create clear divisions along major arteries.
“The other thing it would do is it would equalize the wards, and that was really important….if you don't do anything else, you really seriously need to look at the ward system. It's not balanced.
“When you look at population, you have the maps that are in your report, ward one, two, three and four and whether it's the population size, income, diversity, education, labour force, the number of households, the potential growth area, whether it's the waterfront, the inner city, the rural, urban, industrial, and commercial, all of that has been equalized.”
“That's very important when you have people representing you around this table. They should come from wards that are equal and currently, they're not.”
Ch'ng asked if the committee had any insight into how many people would have preferred to hold a plebiscite instead of changing the city’s democracy through a committee report.
“I'm personally leaning on the side of plebiscite more just because I believe this should be a decision of the people in general,” said Ch'ng.
“If you go to a plebiscite and you get 50 per cent that are in favour, whatever they decide to do, then you must implement it. You would have no choice as to what and you might as a council not really want to implement whatever they decide,” said Johnson.
Johnson also pointed out that if council decided to go in a different direction they would miss the opportunity to make changes in time for the 2026 election.
Council also heard from residents Shane Judge and Cory Bagdon who requested deputations to speak to the committee’s report.
Judge has been a recurring voice at committee meetings and public consultations. Last November, he proposed the committee do away with the 4-ward hybrid model and opt for an at large model or compromise to keep the four-ward system, but only have one councillor per ward and the rest at large including the mayor.
During his deputation, he repeatedly accused administration, particularly the clerk's office, of influencing the committee's decision. The model proposed by the committee is the same one drawn up by city staff.
City manager John Collin issued a point of order against Judge stating that his accusation was unfounded.
City clerk Krista Power said her role was to provide subject matter expertise to the committee.
Another familiar voice during the composition process, Bagdon suggested the review committee add an all-ward system to their recommendation. He also proposed a boundary redistribution of nine smaller wards with nearly equal populations.
He stated that this system would best represent all those who live within the wards, including minor voices, and reduce the workload of councillors.
