GORE BAY—While the number of representatives on Gore Bay council will not be decreasing at this time, council will strongly consider putting the question as to whether residents would like a reduction in the size of council to be put on the ballot for the municipal election next fall.
Currently, council is made up of six councillors and a mayor, but at a meeting October 14 council passed a resolution to defer the decision to debate council size to a later date this year with a more comprehensive report to be presented.
Councillor Dan Osborne said, “in my opinion, if something works it should remain the same. If we were to decrease the number of councillors (by two) it would mean we would be losing two opinions when making decisions on issues. And sometimes a meeting can stray off course, and it is at this time that usually someone with prior knowledge on council brings things back in focus.”
Earlier this year, Gore Bay Mayor Ron Lane indicated he was not in favour and would not impose Strong Mayor powers. “Ron (Lane) had chosen not to put this in place, and if he did, I would be resigning; I would be leaving and I hope other councillors would feel the same.”
Councillor Osborne said the last time he had run in the Gore Bay election for mayor, he had been acclaimed and prior to that a vote had been held with other candidates vying for the position.
As for population and the size of council, “in my opinion our town population’s numbers mean nothing. It doesn’t matter. If you look at the list of towns versus townships, there are usually five members of council in townships. We are a town and the majority of municipalities (in Ontario) have a total of seven council members (including the position of mayor). In my opinion having a total of seven on council has worked for many years. It provides for seven opinions and better decisions.”
“For as long as anyone can remember the town has had a total of seven council members,” said Pam Fogal, deputy clerk. She noted in a report to council prepared by town staff there are no defined principles or policies used to determine the composition of councils. There is no timetable that requires a municipal council to review the number of council seats. The Municipal Act 2001 does state that the minimum size of council is five ‘one of whom shall be the head of council.’ However, it is responsible practice to conduct a periodic review to ensure fair and effective representation.
Ms. Fogal explained the Town of Gore Bay currently has a population of less than 900 but has a bold plan to double the population in the next 20 years. For that reason, a comparison of municipalities of less than 2,000 population was used. Of the 76 Ontario municipalities with a population under 2,000 there are only eight municipalities that consist of seven member councils. Within the Manitoulin region, only Gore Bay, Central Manitoulin and NEMI have more than five council members. Gore Bay is the only municipality of the three that does not have wards.
While the seven-member council for Gore Bay has been in place for as long as anyone can remember, the authority to change the number of councillors can be determined with the current council, said Ms. Fogal. Factors that could be considered when making a decision are encouraging voter participation, effective decision making and strong mayor powers.
It was explained that in terms of encouraging (increased) voter participation, in 2018 there was no municipal election—all candidates were acclaimed. For the 2022 election there were two candidates striving for one mayor position and seven candidates for six councillor positions, noted Ms. Fogal. In the last election, “There was very low participation from ratepayers with only 261 ballots cast (of a potential 785). The majority of the voters didn’t mark six candidates for council on the ballot, and there were very few younger voters casting ballots,” she explained. With fewer seats to be filled it could allow for a more competitive election, council was told. A smaller composition of council could improve decision making and efficiency, discussions stay more focused and collaborative. There can be fewer misunderstandings and consensus achieved quicker. Less time would be spent deliberating.
Ms. Fogal explained, there is currently no mechanism under the Municipal Act that designates strong mayor municipalities based on council size. Rather, the six-member threshold is a provincial policy decision implemented through the list of designated municipalities in O.Reg 530/22. If a municipality changes the size of its local council, the minister may change its designation as a strong mayor municipality. Strong Mayor Powers consist of the mayor having authority to hire/fire senior staff, prepare the municipal budget, veto council bylaws and decisions, act unilaterally and direct resources during an emergency and have authority to set strategic priorities. Strong mayor powers greatly reduce councils influence and their ability to represent the residents. This further creates inconsistencies and lack of accountability and authority with one individual having these powers. It also decreases the democratic authority and blurs the lines of political and administrative duties that can create tensions within municipal governance.
“This issue is important to discuss because it impacts everyone in town’ that after 135 years whether we should lower and change the size of council,” said Mayor Ron Lane.
Councillor Dan Forest said he was in agreement with Councillor Osborne’s thoughts and noted that in looking at the current council, there are three relatively new council members in place who are still learning as they go. Having less councillors could potentially mean having less council members with experience to help form the best decision by council on an issue. “This is one of the main reasons I would stick with seven council members.”
Councillor Aaron Wright said the current size of council is working. “We have a lot of joint committees and having six council members makes it easier to have councillors go to these meetings instead of reducing council to five.” He also agreed with the point concerning the potential for a reduced size of council having less previous experience.
“I agree with what everyone is saying,” stated Councillor Taryn Strain, who suggested that the issue of possibly reducing the size of council could be put on next falls election ballot in a referendum of local voters.
“I agree with the seven-council member distribution,” said Councillor Stephanie Steele. “In terms of the lack of young people coming out to vote, I think a lot of them don’t think their vote matters. If we can get them to realize their vote does matter it might get them out to vote.” She said if the mayor used the strong mayor powers, “I am out.”
Mayor Lane told council in doing research on strong mayors powers, “In our society municipalities can’t always agree on everything. This was on the news the other night, with the conflict going on in North Bay with their council. I think things get bogged down and councils don’t focus and do the job they are supposed to.” He told council he has run for mayor twice that the major position was contested and the third time the position was acclaimed. “For the last election seven people ran for the six council seats and now we have four new councillors, and out of the six members of our council, four were not on the last election ballot.”
To decrease the number of councillors from six to four, it might actually mean people will not run for council in an election because there would be less opportunity for them to be elected, said Mayor Lane. “All of these issues are good reasons why I feel it is not time to change the size of council,” said Mayor Lane. However, he felt it would be a good idea to have the size of council be put on the next election ballot to see what local residents think of having a smaller council.
Mayor Lane also stated that if council reduced its size, “once we reduce the number, after 135 years it would be harder to go back. I certainly wouldn’t support a reduction in council size at this point.” He also noted that with the strong mayor powers, “Council still has the right to veto any decision made by a mayor. Council still has to approve any changes being made. The designation creates more battles and will start more conflicts.”
Council agreed that the council size information report be accepted as information at this time.
