Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said Orillia paid the County of Simcoe for waste collection. In fact, Orillia has its own waste collection service separate from the county. The city pays for it themselves, does its own pickup, has its own dump, etc.
Becoming a separated city is a “pipe dream,” and it is more likely the province will amalgamate Bradford West Gwillimbury with Innisfil, former BWG Mayor Doug White told council Tuesday night.
Despite White’s call to “shut the nonsense down,” BWG council voted unanimously in favour of advising the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the town wants to see whether becoming a separated city is a viable option through a provincial governance review currently underway.
“This is a pipe dream, and it’ll never happen, and I think you all know it. You have opened a hornet’s nest,” White told council during open forum at a meeting Tuesday.
“I’m asking for a recorded vote. If this province decides through this review they’re going to change us, amalgamate us, I want history to record who is responsible for that process, and your names will be attached to that resolution.”
Before every councillor voted in favour of the motion, several of them said they are not voting for separation, rather to get more information on whether it is an option.
“I don’t see anything wrong with this. We’re doing what we were elected to do for the residents,” said Coun. Peter Ferragine, noting council wants to see “solid numbers.”
“We are doing our due diligence. Our residents should actually be happy about that.”
This process is no different than when the town did an OPP costing to see whether it would switch from South Simcoe Police, said Coun. Raj Sandhu.
“If it comes out that to leave this marriage it’s going to cost $200 million, well, we’re going to have to make a decision whether we go with it or not,” he said. “We’re not making a decision today to separate.”
There has been some private discussion between county councillors about amalgamating communities, said Deputy Mayor James Leduc.
“Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so,” he said.
Leduc said the county has given funding for the Line 5-Highway 400 interchange and County Road 88 widening, but work on projects such as County Road 4 improvements is slated for years from now, “way after we really require it.”
“They talk about wanting to spend (money). Until they do it, that’s not money spent yet,” he said.
“Hopefully we’ll come up with another governance structure (at the county). They don’t have the willpower up there. I do (and) so does his worship (the mayor).
“If that means I’m out of politics at the end, I don’t worry about that. There’s at least a worthy discussion to have with the county about the services they deliver and what the costs are.”
Coun. Peter Dykie Jr. added he has not completely given up on the idea of BWG leaving the county to join York Region, pointing to how the town shares Southlake Regional Health Centre.
“By doing this with the province, we will get all the facts,” he said.
During White’s comments to council, he said Mayor Rob Keffer must do more than “hope” for a better financial arrangement by leaving the county and buying only the services it needs from the county.
“The plan is this: we’ll leave Simcoe County, but as the designated service provider, Simcoe County will continue to provide the services they’re providing to us now, only magically they’re going to charge us less,” he suggested.
“I want our members of council to put themselves in the shoes of the 15 other municipalities in Simcoe County who will be asked by a separated Bradford to be charged less for the same services they receive now, and all the ratepayers in those municipalities will pay more for the privilege of Bradford having this new status. Would you support that if you were them? Of course not.”
White also pointed to a line in a report by consulting firm StrategyCorp, which the town hired to complete a structural and financial review of its place within the county. The report was released last spring.
“It is in the town’s best interests, politically and practically, to stay and work within the existing county structure by increasing its political participation in county council,” read the report, “and also by strengthening the relationship at the administrative level through more frequent engagement and collaboration on issues of mutual concern.”
Previously, members of BWG council have stated how the report noted it was politically “improbable” to separate from the county at that time, but there is a new provincial government now.
Coun. Gary Lamb said the “county system has worked well for a long, long time,” and he is unsure whether there would be any savings if BWG left.
“I’m not going to … wave a golden wand and say your taxes are going to be lower. It’s going to cost the same to plow a road in Innisfil as it does in Bradford West Gwillimbury,” he said. “My concern is that, as a separated city that’s all on our own, we’re actually going to incur some costs that we don’t incur right now.”
Lamb pointed to years ago, “when I was first elected back in the mists of time,” he quipped, and the town had to negotiate its own garbage contracts. Now, if there is a problem, the county handles it, he said.
While the town does not yet have solid numbers on potential cost savings if it separated, Keffer said it can get comparisons from other communities’ budgets.
In 2019, BWG will pay the county $4.1 million for solid waste management, compared to the separated city of Orillia, which pays $1.37 million for its own waste collection service, he said.
“There’s numbers out there that show the possibilities of savings,” Keffer said. “We have to start somewhere.”
The provincial advisors in charge of the governance review are expected to present their findings in early summer.
