The Corporation of the TOWN OF MILTON

Transcription

1 Report To: From: Council Troy McHarg, Town Clerk Date: May 25, 2015 Report No: Subject: Recommendation: Halton Region Council Representation 1. THAT Halton Region be urged to implement a solution to the current regional representation imbalance to be in effect no later than the start of the term of Council; 2. THAT Halton Region be requested to contract a qualified, outside consultant to undertake a comprehensive representation review including determination of its optimum size in accordance with the guiding principles outlined in this report; 3. THAT, until Halton Region undertakes such a review, Halton Region increase the size of Regional Council by two both assigned to the Town of Milton - to be in effect no later than the start of the term of Council; 4. THAT the Government of Ontario be requested to approve legislation that will require all municipalities in Ontario to undertake substantive representation reviews at least once in every three terms of Council (12 years) and to implement the measures necessary to maintain fair and effective representation; 5. THAT, should it appear Halton Region is unwilling or unable to correct the current regional representation imbalance for the start of the term of Council, that the Town of Milton petition the Government of Ontario to impose a fair, effective, and efficient representation solution on the Regional Municipality of Halton; 6. THAT this report be forwarded to the Regional Clerk for distribution to all members of Regional Council

2 Page 2 of 14 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY with a request that its recommendations be fully endorsed at the earliest possible opportunity; 7. THAT this report be circulated to lower-tier municipal councils in Halton Region for information. The current composition of Halton Region Council falls short of both the effective representation and rep-by-pop standards expected in a democracy by the Constitution and the Supreme Court of Canada. Milton is the only municipality underrepresented when measured against those standards and the problem will get much worse over time unless fixed. Perhaps unintended, Halton Region resolved that the optimum size of Regional Council is 30 for the term of Council by dictating no loss of representation during this current representation exercise. This would be an increase of 9 members. Until such time as Halton Region is willing to undertake such a review that looks at all sizing requirements and options, including costing of those options, the Town of Milton should recommend to the Region two additional members, both assigned to Milton, be added to Regional Council. REPORT Background Halton Region has seen substantial growth since its formation in Initially, Burlington was the Region s most populous municipality and Halton Hills was larger than Milton. This was reflected in the seat distribution at the time Burlington (9), Oakville (7), Halton Hills (5), Milton (3). By 1990 the population had leveled out resulting in Burlington and Oakville being almost equal in size, as were Milton and Halton Hills. The change to Council composition approved by the Region in May 1996, which came into effect with the election in November 1997 mirrored this shift, giving Oakville and Burlington 7 seats each and Milton and Halton Hills 3 seats each. This representation is still in place today more than 20 years later by the time this Council term ends. In 2007 the Region established a Regional Representation Review Sub-Committee. The work of this committee and the background research required essentially ceased with the approval of a resolution THAT it be acknowledged that there will be no change in Regional representation before the 2014 election and Regional staff interpretation of the effect of the resolution as a result, the Region will not be taking any action in relation to Regional representation during this term of Council. In addition staff noted even post-november 2014 there is actually no resolution/direction from Council to do anything at all on the question of Regional representation.

3 Page 3 of 14 The issue then sat until earlier this year. At the February 25, 2015 meeting of Regional Council the following was resolved: THAT the question of Regional representation be referred to the Local Councils to discover under what conditions and criteria, in addition to no loss of representation, the Local Councils would consider changes to Regional representation, given that they have the say due to the triple majority requirement, with a response requested within a four-month time period. This report and the associated resolution adopted by Council will form the Town of Milton s response to Halton Region. Much of this report utilizes content and approach in a 2013 report by the Town of Ajax and is being used with their consent. Discussion Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people. (Webster s). 1 Democracy: The Importance of Voter Equality and Representation-by- Voter equality means that every Canadian s vote should have the same value This principle is enshrined in the Canadian Constitution and is also referred to as representation-by-population. Representation-by-population stands as the most important legal principle to apply when designing electoral boundaries in Canada.. The principle ensures that all Canadians are treated as equals and taken into account by their political representatives. 2 Democracy: The Right to Fair Representation The principle of representation-by-population is widely seen as a cornerstone of most modern democracies Citizens of democratic states tend to require compelling reasons to violate the principle. 3 Andrew Sancton, Professor of Political Science, Western University (UWO)) Expert in the fields of Canadian local government and democratic representation. Three-time member of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario 1 Democracy, Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia. 2 Pal, M. and Molson, M., Moving Toward Voter Equality, Mowat Centre, School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Toronto, November 2012, p 3. 3 The Principle of Representation by in Canadian Federal Politics, Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation, March 2010.

4 Page 4 of 14 One of the basic premises of representative democracy in Canada is what might liberally be termed electoral equality - the belief that the geographic areas used to elect a representative should be reasonably balanced with one another in terms of population. 4 Robert Williams, Professor Emeritus, Political Science, University of Waterloo Pre-eminent consultant to Ontario municipalities on representation issues. The Supreme Court of Canada and the Right to Effective Representation The 1991 Supreme Court of Canada Carter Decision (Reference re Prov. Electoral Boundaries (Sask.), [1991] 2 S.C.R. 158) is the acknowledged authority on the responsibility entrusted to our elected officials to respect the democratic rights of all electors and has established an ethical base that is used to guide representation reviews at all levels of government in Canada. Although not binding on municipalities, the Carter Decision principles have been referenced in numerous municipal council representation studies and Ontario Municipal Board decisions. In its decision, the Court noted that absolute voter parity, where all electoral districts would contain exactly the same number of electors, is an impossible objective. Instead, the Court maintained that electors are entitled to effective representation. This principle recognizes that variances from the normal representation-by-population (repby-pop) objectives are legitimate and often necessary, on the basis that geography, community history, community interests and minority representation may need to be taken into account to ensure that our legislative assemblies effectively represent the diversity of our social mosaic. (p. 33) Beyond these justified exceptions, however, the decision identified the relative parity of voting power as the primary condition of effective representation (p. 32) and stated that the dilution of one citizen's vote as compared with another's should not be countenanced. (p. 34). Also of importance to note, the Supreme Court s decision rejected the specious argument that historical anomalies and abuses can be used to justify continued anomalies and abuses. (p. 37). In other words, unjustified representation variances must be corrected - not perpetuated. The Commitment to Representation-by- in Canada and Ontario In order to measure and balance the right to effective representation against the common principles of voter equality, representation-by-population, and the relative parity of voting power, representation reviews often apply a standard that allows the rep-by-pop of any electoral district to vary by up to 25% from an electoral quota - typically an average that is determined by dividing the total electors in an area by the number of members to be elected within that area. This standard is now entrenched in the Federal Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act (EBRA) [S.15 (2)]. The EBRA also 4 Williams, R. We think it is the last time. Municipal World magazine, November 2012.

5 Page 5 of 14 requires electoral boundaries commissions for each province following each decennial (10 year) census (S. 3) to ensure that voter parity is regularly studied and maintained. As required by the EBRA, the recent decennial Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission reports demonstrate the Federal Government s commitment to the principles of voter equality and representation-by-population, primarily through the design of reasonably balanced federal election districts in every province and territory. The Province of Ontario also acknowledges this responsibility by using, for the most part, the same federal districts in provincial elections. Should Representation be Based on Elector or Data? Real or perceived variances that may exist in elector bases between different areas requires that a choice be made to use either elector or population data. As noted by Professor Robert Williams, the leading expert on local council representation reviews in Ontario, while legislation usually refers to electors, the emphasis on providing effective representation favours the use of population data. This preference recognizes that members of council serve not just electors but a much broader constituent base that includes business owners, youth, new residents, non-canadian citizens, etc., who may not have voted in the previous election or may not be eligible to vote at all but many of whom are local residents and taxpayers and certainly regarded as members of the community. 5 Therefore, the analysis in the remainder of this report will use population data only. The population data is derived from the Region s Best Planning Estimates which were developed in consultation with the four local municipalities and which were last updated in June The Best Planning Estimates reflect the population allocated to Halton through the Provincial Growth Plan and the distribution of that population among the four local municipalities as reflected in the Sustainable Halton Plan (ROPA 38). The Region has adopted and obviously accepts these population figures as a planning tool, evidenced by the use of these numbers as the basis for its infrastructure master plans and for multi-million dollar capital budget forecasts. Also, 2016 population figures are used as they represent the best prediction of actual population at the time when changes, if any, to Regional representation would take effect at the start of the 2018 term of Council as 2016 census numbers will not yet be available. Electoral Representation in The Regional Municipality of Halton Representation-by- Has Not Been Maintained and Will Get Worse The Municipal Act, 2001 (s. 218 & 219) provides councils with the authority to change the composition of council. There is no mandatory responsibility, however, for councils to maintain a fair and effective system of representation. This allows representation-bypopulation, the cornerstone of our democracy, to be placed at risk when there is an 5 Williams, Robert J. The Problem of Future Trends in Designing Ward Systems in Ontario. The Municipal Monitor, Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, Fall 2012, pp

6 Page 6 of 14 absence of the political will - and sometimes sacrifice - required to maintain it. The current composition of the Halton Region Council falls short of both the effective representation and rep-by-pop standards expected in a democracy as shown in Table 1. TABLE Halton Region Council Representation by Regional Council Members Pop-per- Member Pop Oakville 198, , % 35% Burlington 175, , % 35% Milton 124, , % 15% Halton Hills 57, , % 15% Halton 556, (excl. Chair) 27, % 100% Table 2 is a modified version of Table 1. The relative parity of voting power is evidenced in the Pop-per-Member column, with the noticeable representation distortions being further amplified in comparing the Pop and columns. TABLE Representation by and Variance From Average Council Members Pop-per- Member Pop Variance from Avg (100% = 27,811) Oakville 198, , % 35% 101.8% Burlington 175, , % 35% 90.1% Milton 124, , % 15% 149.4% Halton Hills 57, , % 15% 69.4% Halton 556, , % 100% Employing the Federal Government s EBRA maximum 25% variance rule (see p. 5) defines a range from 75% to 125 the average population-per-member as providing relative parity of voting power. Note in the Variance from Avg column that both Milton and Halton Hills fall outside of this range. Halton Hills currently has more than twice as many members per population as Milton. Put another way, each citizen in Halton Hills receives the benefit of more than double

7 Page 7 of 14 the representation than each Milton citizen. The real impact of this is gained by revisiting the Pal and Molson excerpt on voter equality : Voter equality means that every Canadian s vote should have the same value This principle is enshrined in the Canadian Constitution and is also referred to as representation-by-population. Representation-by-population stands as the most important legal principle to apply when designing electoral boundaries in Canada.. The principle ensures that all Canadians are treated as equals and taken into account by their political representatives. The problem will get worse over time as shown in Table 3, if not fixed. TABLE Representation Variance and 2021 Forecast Pop-per- Member Variance from Avg Forecast Pop-per- Member Pop Variance from Avg Oakville 28, % 221,826 31, % 35% 101.6% Burlington 25, % 178,847 25, % 35% 81.9% Milton 41, % 161,750 53, % 15% 172.8% Halton Hills 19, % 61,672 20, % 15% 65.9% Halton 27, ,094 31, % 100% To summarize: Unequal population growth caused the re-balancing of Regional Council in 1997 the only rebalancing since its inception over 40 years ago. This change demonstrated the commitment of that particular Council to maintaining fair and effective representation albeit with some outside motivation from the Province through its municipal downsizing initiatives. Since then, substantial population growth has occurred - with some municipalities again growing at much greater rates than others - resulting in a Regional Council composition that is in need of re-balancing. projections indicate that this imbalance will continue to get even worse in the coming years. Halton Region Council does not currently conform to the principles of representationby-population or effective representation as cornerstones of Canadian democracy.

8 Page 8 of 14 The remainder of this report will focus on quantifying the true scale of the electoral representation imbalance on the Halton Region Council and identifying options and a fair and effective solution. Fair and Effective Representation Options for All of Halton Region In order to provide fair and effective representation across the entire Region, the methodology must adhere to the principles outlined earlier in this report as backed by the Supreme Court of Canada. First and foremost, it must be acknowledged that an upper-tier Council composition review relies primarily on a mathematical exercise that will calculate the fair allocation of representation. Unlike a local representation review, where the number of wards and their boundaries may be endlessly reconfigured in the search for the right solution, the fixed boundaries of the lower-tier municipalities (versus flexible ward boundaries) do not allow for similar creative or flexible solutions in upper-tier reviews. 1. Halton Region s Fair Solution Perhaps unintended and unless reconsidered, because it resolved no loss of representation on February 25, 2015, Halton Region has already determined that the optimum representation to population ratio is 1:19,307 (1 member for every 19,307 citizens in Halton Hills). This is because all other municipalities and their citizens would be disadvantaged if the representation to population ratio were to be greater than that. It may be helpful to first examine the fair solution that results from the mathematical exercise, ensuring no loss of representation. Table 4 illustrates that Halton Region Council would have to expand to 29 members (30 including the Chair) for the term of Council to provide all municipalities in Halton with the same population per member representation that would be enjoyed by Halton Hills. This would expand to 32 members (33 including the Chair) for the term of Council. TABLE 4 - Fair Representation Based on the Optimum Pop-per-Member 2016 # 19,307 per 2021 # 19,307 per Oakville 198, = , = 12 Burlington 175, = 9 178, = 9 Milton 124, = 7 161, = 8 Halton Hills 57, = 3 61, = 3 Halton 556, ,094 32

9 Page 9 of 14 While this model would ensure fairness, it would almost certainly be rejected. Unwieldy size; increased costs; and significant Council composition, financial and other impacts for the local municipalities that are assigned the additional members - including ward boundary reviews - would probably doom consideration of this scenario to failure and the representation imbalance would continue until the 2022 term of Council. 2. Addressing the Disadvantaged Only, While Ensuring No Loss of Representation Tables 1 through 3 have demonstrated that Milton is the only municipality currently disadvantaged and disadvantaged out to A less costly option would see only Milton receiving additional members. Table 5 below shows the impact if Milton were to receive one additional member at Regional Council. TABLE Representation by With 4 Milton Members Regional Council Members Pop-per- Member Pop Oakville 198, , % 33% Burlington 175, , % 33% Milton 124, , % 19% Halton Hills 57, , % 14% Halton 556, (excl. Chair) 26, % 100% Table 6 is a modified version of Table 5. The relative parity of voting power is evidenced in the Pop-per-Member column, with the noticeable representation distortions being further amplified in comparing the Pop and columns. TABLE 6 - TABLE 5 Plus Variance From Average With 4 Milton Members Council Members Pop-per- Member Pop Variance from Avg (100% = 26,246) Oakville 198, , % 33% 107.9% Burlington 175, , % 33% 95.5% Milton 124, , % 19% 118.7% Halton Hills 57, , % 14% 73.6% Halton 556, , % 100%

10 Page 10 of 14 Employing the Federal Government s EBRA maximum 25% variance rule (see p. 5) defines a range from 75% to 125 the average population-per-member as providing relative parity of voting power. Note in the Variance from Avg column that all municipalities fall within the range, with the exception of Halton Hills (albeit slightly). With adding only one additional Milton member for the 2018 term of Council, not only would it not comply for the 2018 term of Council, Regional Council composition will continue to fall short of both the effective representation and rep-by-pop standards expected in a democracy out past 2021 as shown in Table 7. Note that both Milton and Halton Hills would again fall outside of the acceptable variance by a significant margin. TABLE Forecast With 4 Milton Members Pop- per- Pop Forecast Member Variance from Avg Oakville 221,826 31, % 33.3% 106.6% Burlington 178,847 25, % 33.3% 86.0% Milton 161,750 40, % 19.1% 136.1% Halton Hills 61,672 20, % 14.3% 69.2% Halton 624,094 29, % 100% The only solution that does not cause a drastic increase to the size of Regional Council that also conforms to the democratic principles of representation-by-population and effective representation set by the Constitution and Supreme Court of Canada comes from adding two additional members from Milton to Regional Council for the 2018 term of Council as shown in Table 8 below. TABLE 8 - With 5 Milton Members Council Members Pop-per- Member Pop Variance from Avg (100% = 25,282) Oakville 198, , % 31.8% 112.0% Burlington 175, , % 31.8% 99.1% Milton 124, , % 22.7% 98.6% Halton Hills 57, , % 13.6% 76.4% Halton 556, , % 100%

11 Page 11 of 14 Employing the Federal Government s EBRA maximum 25% variance rule (see p. 5) defines a range from 75% to 125 the average population-per-member as providing relative parity of voting power. Note in the Variance from Avg column that all municipalities fall within the acceptable range. With adding two additional Milton members for the 2018 term of Council, Regional Council composition would comply with both the effective representation and rep-by-pop standards expected in a democracy for the 2018 term of Council, but it would again fall short of both the effective representation and rep-by-pop standards expected in a democracy out past 2021 as shown in Table 9. Note that Halton Hills again falls outside of the standard (albeit slightly). TABLE Forecast With 5 Milton Members Forecast Pop- per- Member Pop Variance from Avg Oakville 221,826 31, % 31.8% 111.7% Burlington 178,847 25, % 31.8% 90.1% Milton 161,750 32, % 22.7% 114.0% Halton Hills 61,672 20, % 13.6% 72.5% Halton 624,094 28, % 100% At what point would Halton Region decide that continuing to add members of Regional Council - without undertaking a comprehensive Regional Council representation review to determine its optimum size - is not in the best interests of the citizens of Halton? Until such time as Halton Region is willing to undertake such a review that looks at all sizing requirements and options, the Town of Milton should recommend to the Region, the addition of 2 members both assigned to Milton. Guiding Principles For a Comprehensive Regional Council Representation Review Having established that Regional Council bears a responsibility to provide fair and effective representation, and that the current composition of the Council does not meet those standards, a comprehensive review of Halton Region Council representation should employ the following guiding principles:

12 Page 12 of All electors, residents and taxpayers in the Region must be valued equally. In particular, the rep-by-pop objectives of voter equality and relative parity of voting power are best achieved by identifying the smallest possible representation variance across all of the four local municipalities. 2. The minimum or total size of Council should not be arbitrarily decided in advance. Instead, the determination of a fair, effective and efficient Council size and distribution of representation is best determined by applying an optimum populationper-member ratio based on factors such as Councillor workload, cost of Council, etc. 3. Any solution to correct the imbalance in regional representation must be effective for the start of the Council term. Another perspective is to simply ask: If Halton Region Council was being created for the first time now, how would representation be distributed? If the Region Refuses to Act.The Province Must Regional governments in Ontario have always had to struggle for legitimacy. Many citizens have trouble understanding their purpose and function. I can think of few better ways for them to undermine their own legitimacy than by refusing to reform their voting systems in accordance with the principle of representation-by-population. If they can t uphold this principle, then I would urge the provincial legislature to do it for them. Andrew Sancton, Professor of Political Science, Western University (UWO) As noted in the Background section of this report, Halton Region has failed to correct any representation imbalance since this issue was raised in In order to take effect for the next regular election, changes to Council composition must be finalized by December 31 of the year prior to the election. Therefore, in order to be in effect for the October 2018 elections, any changes to Regional Council and/or lower-tier Councils must be completed by December 31, Approval requires satisfaction of the triple majority criteria in the Municipal Act, 2001 (S. 218 & 219), meaning that a majority of Regional Council plus a majority of the lower-tier councils (3 of 4) that also represent a majority of all the electors in the Region, must support the proposed changes. Depending on the process used by Halton Region from here on in to arrive at a decision in this matter, it is quite possible that the time already lost from this term by the time all lower tier municipalities provide their input to Halton Region makes the ability to determine and approve changes at both the upper-tier and, in particular, any ensuing changes then required at the lower-tier level unlikely to be achieved by the end of At this point, it would take the strong will of Halton Region and the cooperation of all lower-tier councils and the Ontario Government to expedite a correction of the representation imbalance identified in this report by the end of This is unless Halton Region and the local municipalities agree to assign two additional members to

13 Page 13 of 14 Milton forthwith. Should it appear that Halton Region is unwilling or unable to have a fair system in place by the end of 2016 to ensure adequate time for the local municipalities to review and change their systems and receive Ontario Government approval, if required, by the end of 2017, staff would recommend that Council formally request the Ontario Government to unilaterally impose a fair and effective solution in time for the October 2018 elections. The Province should also amend the Municipal Act, 2001 to require all municipalities to undertake substantive representation reviews and implement the changes required to maintain fair and effective representation, at least once every three terms of Council (12 years). To ensure compliance, these reviews and any composition changes should also be subject to appeal to the OMB. CONCLUSION: Representation on Halton Region Council has become severely imbalanced. In particular, Milton s citizens are significantly under-represented and have become disadvantaged in the Region s decision-making and in their access to political representation. As noted by Dr. Sancton, representation-by-population is the cornerstone of our cherished Canadian democracy (p. 4). Citizens trust their elected representatives to serve them fairly and with respect in all matters. Measuring voter equality is an important test of our elected members commitment to providing good government. The time is now to rebalance regional representation to ensure that fair and effective representation is provided to all electors, residents and taxpayers in the Regional Municipality of Halton. Relationship to the Strategic Plan Responsible, Cost Effective and Accountable Local Government Financial Impact None associated with the recommendations in this report. Respectfully submitted, Troy McHarg Town Clerk For questions, please contact: Troy McHarg Ext 2132

14 Page 14 of 14 Attachments None CAO Approval William Mann, MCIP, RPP, OALA, CSLA, MCIF, RPF Chief Administrative Officer