After much debate at Tuesday night’s Port Hope council meeting, a Ward Boundary and Council Composition Review will continue for the municipality.
A majority of council members found a compromise in making that decision after a staff report suggested pausing the review until an updated growth forecast from Northumberland County is complete.
It was noted in that option as a reminder that no changes to ward boundaries or council composition will be made until the 2030 municipal election so the deferral, if approved, would provide sufficient time for a comprehensive and well-informed review within the first 24 months of the next council term.
That was one of three options available to council, but the only one not brought to the floor for a vote.
Councillor Claire Holloway Wadhwani didn’t think the review should be paused, citing the time council has already invested as part of the process along with community engagement that’s already underway.
“People are sort of thinking about this and talking about this issue now and I don’t think we want to lose that momentum,” Holloway Wadhwani said.
“I also have concerns about deferring a decision about the electoral system to the next council. We have an advantage right now, if we were to complete this process in this term of council, we would be doing so where we have no conflict of interest because it has no implications for our own re-election,” she continued.
“Two years, or 24 months, after the beginning of the next term of council, that will no longer be the case.
That council would be put in a situation of having to make decisions that would impact their own re-election if they were to run again in 2030. I think by pushing ahead now we maintain that objectivity and I think that will be important for credibility and public trust in the electoral system that we arrive at at the end of the process.”
Holloway Wadhwani noted some of the options being considered wouldn’t be impacted by any population growth scenarios. She suggested the first option to see the review continue now to completion was the way to go.
Councillor Les Andrews said he “disagreed entirely” with Holloway Wadhwani’s statements.
“Right from the get-go when this ward boundary consultation was proposed, I disagreed with it from the point of view that we had no idea how the impacts of Wesleyville were going to be on our community,” he said, adding it was deemed premature due to the County’s growth forecasting.
Andrews was concerned about continuing to spend money on the review when staff is suggesting a deferral.
Councillor Todd Attridge said he disagreed with Andrews.
“We are so close to finishing this, we need to finish it,” he said.
“The concern that I have with deferring this for two years until the County has more information is that in two years the County may not have more information and that was outlined in the staff report. On top of that, even two years from now they can’t predict 10 years from now what the growth is going to be in that area, none of us can, but what I do like about where we’re at is council has already been considering the fact that Wesleyville is on the horizon.”
“If it needs to get revisited down the road, that’s fine. We do that all the time with decisions where we make decisions based on the facts that we have today. If new information comes down the road and we need to pivot, we pivot, but I think putting this into limbo isn’t appropriate because we’ve already done the community consultation on it, we’ve already got a council who has been moving it. It would be essentially starting it all over again which I think would be a waste.”
Councillor Vicki Mink agreed with Andrews and believed it was the two of them that voted against doing a review initially, but also suggested now it should proceed.
“This council decided, even though we made our arguments not to do this now, agreed to make the investment and go forward,” she said.
“That decision was made and if we hold up now we’ve spent a lot of time and money and resources, community participation, and it could be all for nothing if we pause.”
Mink said she agreed with Holloway Wadhwani that some potential options that won’t be impacted by growth and the decisions can still be made.
Councillor Darrell Toms suggested the decision shouldn’t be rushed, especially in an election year.
CAO Mike Melinyshin said staff’s position to defer the review is due to the growth numbers “being so inaccurate,” adding “depending on the growth numbers that do come out, the ward boundaries that are defined in the consultant’s report could change dramatically.”
Port Hope council currently has seven members, including Mayor Olena Hankivsky. There are four Ward 1 Councillors elected representing the urban area – Andrews, Attridge, Holloway Wadhwani and Adam Pearson, who is currently serving as deputy mayor – while the Ward 2 rural area is represented by Mink and Toms.
Holloway Wadhwani reminded that during a December presentation from the consultant, council was told that ward boundaries are designed based on current population numbers.
“Even if we have different growth targets connected to Wesleyville, that growth isn’t necessarily going to materialize in the next term of council,” she said. “It could be 10 years down the road in which case it’s a healthy time to be doing another review at that point anyway.
“I just don’t think that healthy democracy should be put on hold while we wait for information that we don’t even know is going to have an implication down the road. I think we’ve made a decision that it’s important at this juncture, given how long it’s already been since we’ve had a look at this electoral process.”
Mayor Hankivsky, who joined virtually after leaving council chambers earlier, said a decision like this should be made based on the most accurate information available “and I do not believe that we have the most accurate information right now.”
Andrews called for a recorded vote on the motion put forth by Attridge for the review to continue to completion. The motion was defeated with only Holloway Wadhwani and Attridge in support.
Holloway Wadhwani suggested the second option, more of a hybrid alternative, to continue the review to completion with a mechanism for a population review within 24 months of the next term of council once updated growth forecasts become available.
After more debate and another recorded vote requested by Andrews, the motion received enough support to pass, swaying Hankivsky, Mink and Pearson to join Holloway Wadhwani and Attridge in support with only Andrews and Toms opposed.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
