If the province eliminates Halton, the town will need to virtually recreate it.
That’s the conclusion of a $75,000 report from consultant EY (Ernst &Young), which recommends Oakville continue to cooperate with other Halton municipalities to deliver services, even if two-tier government is abolished.
The provincial government, which earlier this year announced the dissolution of the Peel region, has directed a committee to study the future of Halton and five other regional governments across the province.
The region of Halton is made up of four municipalities: Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills. The communities work together to deliver services like policing, garbage, water and waste water, public health and social services.
Politicians from each of those communities sit on a decision-making board – Halton Regional council – to determine how the services should be run.
Were Halton to be dissolved, the town should continue to cooperate with its partners to deliver most of the regional services – plus a few more – says the EY report.
After considering issues including cost, efficiency and service delivery, the report suggests:
- Creation of a single emergency services board to deliver policing, fire and paramedic services to the four Halton municipalities. Notably, this would merge the Oakville Fire department with other regional services.
- Continued joint delivery of all health and social services across the four municipalities, under a joint services agreement. That would include public health, long term care, and employment, housing and children’s services.
- Creation of an independent municipal corporation to provide transit services across multiple municipalities.
- Transfer of the region’s 311 helpline to the town to create a single point of contact for residents.
- Creation of independent municipal corporations to manage Halton’s landfill site and its water and waste water facilities.
- Transfer of responsibility for economic development, forestry and the management of regional roads and stormwater pipes to the town.
"The opportunity for an independent single-tier government would allow the town to make some important decisions around the town with autonomy and redirect the taxpayers’ dollars back into the community of Oakville," Jane Clohecy, the town’s CAO, told councillors at their Nov. 20 meeting.
She emphasized that the EY report is only an initial look at service delivery possibilities and that determining the cost of the proposed changes will require hiring consultants to undertake a more substantial investigation. Town staff will report back to council with a plan and cost for doing that additional work.
Mayor Rob Burton, an advocate for doing away with Halton, said ongoing research is valuable to understand the town’s possibilities: "There’s a lot to be said for being prepared."
Read more: Would a Halton breakup financially benefit Oakville taxpayers?
Burton spoke before the province’s Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy in Barrie on Nov. 6, its first day of public hearings on regional government.
He argued that it is time for Halton’s municipalities to evolve beyond two tier government. He added that utilities and service boards (as are suggested in EY report) offer efficient and effective ways to deliver shared municipal services.
"Putting shared services in utilities and service boards gets rid of delay, duplication and obstruction. It saves money for services or for lower taxes," Burton said.
"Oakville pays 42 per cent of the bills of Halton for a third or less of Halton’s services. We would save real money if we had boards and utilities collecting fees for services provided and used. We would also increase accountability and transparency with a single-tier structure for council that the public could more easily understand."
But not all councillors are certain they are in favour of breaking up Halton region. Janet Haslett-Theall said she wants to hear from residents and get a better understanding of the financial costs before she makes up her mind.
"One of the things that concerns me is that we are already, as a town, on the public record of a direction that we may take," she said.
"And yet, we haven’t consulted the public. This council wasn’t even consulted about the position (in Barrie). And it strikes me that that is just not appropriate."
The committee has announced additional public hearing dates, including one in Burlington on Jan. 11.