By Becky Day
I spoke with regional councillor Bruce Timms today. He has been leading the charge in an attempt to bring a new type of regional governance to the Niagara Region, one that follows the Halton region model.
St. Catharines regional councillor Bruce Timms
“The focus of my reform is to integrate city council and regional council so there is good clear communication between the two levels of government,” he said. “That’s far more important than any talk about amalgamation.”
Timms proposal would see each municipality have double duty regional/municipal councillors. In Thorold’s case, there would still be 8 councillors but 1 of those would be wearing two hats. They would run for “the double duty councillor” spot in the next election in 2014. Each municipality could determine how they would do it.
He sees the move as reducing regional council by 18 members with the Mayors of each city still staying on. Timms feels the change would help improve the separation between regional and municipal politics forcing everyone to work together more. He also sees it bringing more accountability.
When I mentioned to Timms that he might be putting the axe to his own job, he agreed, but said he wouldn’t be against running for the double duty position in the future.
I think I like the idea. As an example, when I covered Niagara Falls Council in a media capacity I never saw a regional councillor come to report to the local council once. They were waiting for an invitation and assumed the mayor would relay the info. If Timm’s vision were to come to be, the regional councillor(s) would have to come to council.
The only drawback that I see is anyone who has a full-time position elsewhere wouldn’t be able to take the position on. They would have to make a choice. That would narrow the pool of candidates and we’d have more full-time politicians on our hands. Anyone who would sign up would have to be prepared to work double time and I don’t know how many regional councillors would like that idea. They seem to have a pretty good gig the way it is right now… and I don’t know, as they’d want the change. In Thorold, our representation would remain the same and we’d be saving money so it could be the best of both worlds.
Becky Day is a former reporter and recently elected councillor for Thorold, Ontario. Check out her website at movingthoroldforward .
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