Should Brantford Amalgamate With Brant County? Voters asks ‘very clear’ ANSWERS from WOULD-BE MPPS

Whether they like it or not, would-be mpps in Brantford-Brant Are Being Pulled Into A Content Local Debate Over Amalgamation.

Content

Content

Recounded Videos

Content

In January, Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis Used Strong-Mayor Powers to Study Explining The Benefits of Amalgamatting With the County of Branty-Despite County Mayor David Bailey Declaring the Rural Municipality is “Unequivocally Oppose” to becoming one with the city.

Now that voters are headed to the polls Feb. 27 For a Snap Provincial Election, Area Residents are asking to know where provincial candidates stand on the hot-button.

“The Preservation of Our Community’s Automy’s is crucial,” Wrote One Brant County Resident Who Started A Petition Last Month to “Halt the proposed amalgamation.” HUNDEDS OF PEOPLE SIGDED, Requesting Both the MP and MPP to “Publicly Declare Their Standpoints on the proposed amalgamation.”

Content

Some residents have also taken to social media to say they’d like brant country to remain a separate municipality.

If they Wanted to Live in Brantford, they would have movement there, one resident wrote on facebook. Others Pointed to the Challenges Other Municipalities – Like Nearby Haldimand and Norfolk – Faced when Amalgamatting, The Vast Difference Between the County’s Rural Needs and the Urban Deads of the City, and Brantford’s “Manguided” priorities.

Bailey, the County’s Mayor, also voiceed the need for provincial election candidates to give a “very clear” idea of ​​where they stand on the result, so voters “Know who we can depend on,” He wrote in a Facebook post in January.

The Rural County of Brant Complely Surrounds The City of Brantford on All Borders. But while they share some services like paramedics and have the same health-card system, as well as joint representation at the provincial and federal level, the Two Remain distinct municipalities.

Content

The Most recent Tory Provincial Government Studied Alternate Governance Models – Including Amalgamation – For a Number of Ontario Municipalitites as Far Back as 2019, but not forced any municipal Marriages to date. It also backed off a high-proteal promise to fully split up peel region in 2023.

Here’s what provincial candidates in Brantford-Brant have to say about the prospect of amalgamation:

Liberal MPP candidate Ron Fox Said he has heard a “loud and clear” message from residents.

His party will defend to municipal and regional councils as “the local leaders who know best” and will “never force” amalgamation on municipalities, because “shotgun weddings just don work,” he told the spectator.

He believes there use to be “Great co-operation” Between the Two Municipalities for Social Services, Housing and Infrastructure But “It’s gorse in the Last Few Years, Especially with all the downloading of Costs from the province.”

Content

He said he plans to remove “The conditions that create compreition” to have “Two municipalities side by side, working togger again.”

Green candidate Karleigh Csordas also Believes there is “Room for improved efficiency” for shared services, but thinks any decision about amalgamation “must be based on clear, transparent consultation with residents to ensure their needs and priorities are fully consider,” shet told the spectator .

One of the Biggest concerns for Both Brantford and Brant County is Urban Sprawl and Associated Greenfield Development, She Said.

“Expanding Into Farmland is Expensive, ineffective and environmentally harmful,” Said Csordas, Arguing Both Municipalities Should Focus on Prioritizing Infill Development and Sustainable Planning.

Content

NDP candidate Harvey Bischof Told the spectator he sees “no value” in pursuing an amalgamation at this time since it would require “Enormous collaboration Between Two Consenting parties.”

He Suggestized in the Future Both Municipalities Could Recognize The Collective Advantage of “A Closer Relationship” – But added that is “Clearly not the case right now.”

Bischof Said He’s Ready to Fight For Issues of Source To The Riding As A Whole, Including the “Dratic Need” for a New Hospital Facility, The Push to Hire Primary Care Physicians, The “Hugely Problematic” Lack of Affordable Housing, and Support Needs In Schools.

Progressive Conservative incumbent will Bouma’s Office Told the Spectator He has “Always Believed that Small, Local representative Local Governments Are Most Effective When They They Work Together to Strengthen the Communities they serve.”

In the Face of “UNPRECEDENTED ECONOMIC UCERTAINTAINTY” HIS PARTY’s Local Priorities included Growing the Economy, Creating New Jobs, Protecting Livelihoods and Keeping Ontario “Complete.”

Celeste Percy-Beauregard is a local journalism initiative reporter based at the hamilton spectator. The Initiative is Funded by the Government of Canada.

Content