Guelph’s delegation to the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) returned triumphant. Or rather “triumphant” was the tone established in official communications from the City of Guelph comms department.
The message from the City, and the message given to me by Mayor Cam Guthrie in an interview for Guelph Politico, was overwhelmingly positive. “I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised. They have been very welcoming, very open to hearing what’s going on Guelph,” Guthrie told me.
Guthrie also told me that he went into this year’s AMO conference “skeptical”, and I don’t blame him. The conference did come one week after the new PC government in Queen’s Park ran roughshod over several municipalities by undermining local elections.
It’s okay though, Ford said. They went after Toronto because Toronto’s problems are unique and those awful Liberals created those other four regional chairs…
“So these were unique situations. And no — we do not have plans for similar legislation in our future,” Premier Doug Ford told the AMO attendees.
So you can’t really blame Mayor Guthrie, or any mayor, councillor or staff member attending AMO, from any of Ontario’s municipalities, of being skeptical about the provincial government’s commitment to working with cities.
For an added level of difficulty, it was during the 15 years under the Liberal government that AMO gained new prominence. Though the organization itself is over 100 years old, it’s now seen as a critical rally point for Ontario’s 444 municipalities to put collective pressure on the province in numerous areas of common interest.
It’s nice that the new PC government has picked up that baton, and went into this year’s AMO with gusto, but how long will it last?
You can’t deny that much of what the new provincial government has done so far has been ideologically driven, even if you happen to agree with that ideology.
You don’t full stop a wind power project that’s almost done, if you aren’t dead set against wind power.
You don’t radically alter the rules of an election when it’s already in progress unless you don’t care about the repercussions.
You don’t make people wait a year to buy legal pot because you pulled the plug on provincially-owned stores because the market should decide. Heck, it’s not like the legalization of marijuana is controversial or anything.
Those are the big ticket items though.
Also a big ticket item, at least for Guelph and other communities along the 401 corridor, is increased frequency of GO train service, and the construction of high speed rail.
Both Guthrie and Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Scott Stewart told me that the meeting between several delegations and Minister of Transportation John Yakabuski on the matter was positive. The mayors from Brampton, Guelph, Kitchener, et al formed a united front that the province has a part to play in reducing gridlock by rolling out more trains more often.
That all sounds fine, but Premier Ford posited in June that the provincial government could front for subways to Markham and Pickering, which are both already well serviced by GO trains.
I think it’s safe to say that Premier Ford has never had to avail himself of the public transit system to get where he needs to be. Ford says that Toronto’s is the “worst commute”, but honestly, how would he know?
Now I’m the one being skeptical, but there is some cause for concern in other areas.
Councillor Cathy Downer attended a session on affordable housing with Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Christine Hogarth, and the results were not as encouraging as other matters.
"It seems clear that they want this issue to be with the Federal Government and want municipalities to advocate to the feds, not the province," Downer said by email.
This is a repeat of the Ford government stand on another issue, the management of the influx of refugees. While that file is technically in the federal government’s jurisdiction, it seems somewhat shortsighted for the province to wash their hands of the matter.
The same can be said, if Downer’s correct, of washing their hands in the creation of more affordable housing.
The matter of increasing Guelph’s stock of affordable and social housing is a hot potato, and passed around like the children’s game of the same name.
Funded by the province, managed by Wellington County, and desperately needed within the city limits, it seems weird that Ms Hogarth would suggest the ball, on this issue, is actually in the court of the federal government.
In fact, it’s doubly weird when Ford gets in front of AMO and says, “The last thing any municipality needs is yet another layer of elected politicians. That's not how you make better decisions.”
It’s unsurprising to me that this first AMO with the Ford government would be a pleasant affair. You don’t meet someone for the first time and pick a fight with them.
The real test will be next year’s AMO. A provincial government comfortable in their roles, and with a whole year of decisions under their belt, might be much more difficult to find common ground with.
