GUELPH POLITICAST #492 - A Broken Political Scene (feat. Doug Craig)

It was about this time two years ago that former Guelph CAO Scott Stewart told city council in an open meeting that there needed to be a new deal for Ontario municipalities; that they were trying to solve 21st century problems with 19th century rules. As Guelph tackles another difficult budget season, one regional councillor is putting this issue in stark terms: Ontario’s councils are “on the verge of life support”!

In a recent letter to the editor in Cambridge Today, Doug Craig raised the alarm. He was Mayor of Cambridge for 18 years and then joined Waterloo Regional Council in 2022, so if there’s someone that might understand the challenge of cities in this day and age, it’s probably Craig. He notes that provincial tampering and voter apathy are the reasons why municipalities are caught between this rock and a hard place.

To those of us that observe municipal politics carefully, this encapsulates the struggle we know too well. The provincial government has forced reductions and discounts onto municipalities and reduced the amount of fees collected while offering additional funding in the form of a contest for meeting housing targets from a pledge they strong-armed cities into adopting and now seem to be abandoning. Is it time to finally talk about that new deal?  

Doug Craig will answer those and other questions on this edition of the podcast including why it’s tricky to get these concerns heard even when your local MPP sits in the government bench, what would happen in the unlikely event that the provincial government were to be open to changes, and the role of municipal councillors in educating the public about what their limitations are. Plus, is there a role for the business community in promoting improved local government?

So let's talk about how to save our local government on this week's Guelph Politicast! 

You can reach out to him through the Region of Waterloo’s website, and to read his latest letter, “Local councils are on the verge of life support”, at the Cambridge Today website. Here in Guelph, the first budget meeting is today, Wednesday, at 9 am and public delegation night will be on Tuesday November 18 at 6 pm.

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