Committee in charge of 2-tier regional governance review to hold public meetings in January

The provincial committee overseeing the study on regional governance will hold a public meeting in Kitchener early in the new year.

In September, Municipal Affairs Housing Minister Paul Calandra wrote to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy asking members to review two-tier municipalities in the province.

The request came after former housing minister Steve Clark had stepped down amid the Greenbelt land-swap controversy.

Clark had announced in November 2022 that he planned to appoint facilitators to review six regional governments:

• Durham.

• Halton.

• Niagara.

• County of Simcoe.

• Waterloo.

• York.

In his letter to the committee, Calandra asked members to "take over the work originally proposed for facilitators."

"The standing committee has the ability to carry out this work in a manner that is public, open and accountable, with the opportunities for participation from members of all parties, local governments and the public, including in the affected communities," Calandra said in his letter to the committee.

On the committee's Legislative Assembly of Ontario page, it has listed the notice of hearings for the regional governance review.

The committee plans to hold public meetings in:

• St. Catharines on Jan. 10.

• Burlington on Jan. 11.

• Brampton on Jan. 12.

• Ajax on Jan. 16.

• Vaughan on Jan. 17.

• Kitchener on Jan. 18.

Exact locations for the public meetings have not yet been released.

People who want to speak at the meeting are being asked to register before 12 p.m. on Jan. 3 for the meetings in St. Catharines, Burlington and Brampton and before 12 p.m. on Jan. 9 for Ajax, Vaughan and Kitchener. People can also send in written submissions until 7 p.m. on Jan. 18.

The committee is made up of members from the Progressive Conservatives, NDP and Liberals. It is chaired by PC MPP Laurie Scott.

In September when Calandra announced he was asking the committee to look at the two-tier municipalities, Region of Waterloo Chair Karen Redman said "important conversations" about the municipality "need to happen in public."

"I support an open and transparent process," Redman said in a statement.