Amalgamation

I have not yet heard any good reasons to spend millions of dollars amalgamating Waterloo and Kitchener, and unless I hear some, I will be voting ‘no’ on the amalgamation question this fall.

We face many important issues here in Waterloo. There are plenty of challenges to work on and problems to solve, such as our aging City infrastructure, student housing, poverty, environmental sustainability, and the financial sustainability and quality of our community services. None of these challenges are best solved by talking about amalgamating Kitchener and Waterloo, and there has not yet been a single issue identified by our community for which amalgamation is the best solution. Rather than spending four to eight years of time, money, and energy talking about amalgamation, I believe that we should spend our time, energy, and money focusing on the actual issues and opportunities facing us.

What numerous amalgamations have shown us is that the only thing we should count on is a bigger government that costs more for residents and is less responsive to and accessible for the average person.

This does seem counter-intuitive, as there would be one less mayor, one less Chief Librarian, and one less Fire Chief. But each Chief managing even more staff will have more deputies, and levelling up means that an amalgamated city usually adopts the higher pay scale and benefits, not the lower one. And while we may have fewer politicians in a mega-city, it also means it is harder for average residents to have their voices heard by their councillor and to get their issues on the radar of the mega-council. At the same time, amalgamated cities are more responsive to larger advocacy groups, and the reduced competition from having fewer neighbouring municipalities lowers the drive to provide high quality services.

These are the conclusions drawn from researchers at prominent think tanks, such as the C.D. Howe Institute and the Montreal Economic Institute. These are also conclusions that can be drawn from the experiences of Toronto, Ottawa, and Hamilton, except that the province paid for the up-front costs of those amalgamations. The province will not pick up the substantial cost of amalgamation, which was estimated ten years ago at $20- to $30-million, and would certainly be higher now.

If voters choose to discuss amalgamation, then I promise to take a hard look and find the best possible deal for Waterloo residents. But I also promise to be as up-front and transparent as possible about how much these talks are costing us in staff time and consulting fees, and in lost opportunities to work on our current challenges.

After all, I don’t want to be working just for bigger government, but for better government. A better government in the City of Waterloo would focus on finally solving the problems in Northdale. It would support Beechwood residents in finding solutions to put their community centres on a solid financial footing. It would rebuild public trust in its public library. And it would work with the community to help develop an economy that includes all of our residents. Rather than an amalgamation, these are the community priorities I would prefer to focus on as your councillor.