Ward Boundary Review

The City of Markham reviewed its ward boundaries in 2013. Markham had grown a lot since the last review in 2005. As a result, some wards had many more people than others. This review recommended that Markham change the wards to reflect population differences across the City. The review looked at:

Representation by population
Protection of communities of interest and neighbourhoods
Present and future population trends
Physical features as natural boundaries
The overriding principle of “effective representation"

Here is the interim report, and here is the final report. Markham City Council passed the Ward Boundary Review Bylaw 2013-29 on March 19, 2013.

Phases

The Review had four main phases:

Phase 1: August – October 2012. A consultant reviewed background data, and started the first public consultation process.
Phase 2: October – December 2012. A consultant created draft options for revised ward boundaries. Then, the consultant put together an interim report for the General Committee.
Phase 3: January 2013. The General Committee held a second public consultation on the draft in the interim report.
Phase 4: February – March 2013. The Committee put together final options and their final report for General Committee and Council.

The City of Markham is published notice of its public meetings here:

Economist & Sun and the Thornhill Liberal
Posters and electronic bulletin boards (TVs) in the Civic Centre and City facilities such as community centres
On the www.markham.ca website

Consultant

A consultant helped the City with:

Research
Public consultation
Options
A final report and recommendation
This consultant was Dr. Robert Williams, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Waterloo.

Robert J. Williams was a faculty member in the Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo, from 1971 until he took early retirement at the end of 2006. He completed a B.A. and M.A. at McMaster University and a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Toronto. He presently holds the designation Professor Emeritus. Throughout his career, his research and teaching interests have included municipal government, Ontario and Canadian politics and electoral systems.

He has served as an expert witness at numerous Ontario Municipal Board hearings on electoral systems and ward boundaries, beginning in the late 1980s and continuing until 2010. He appeared as both a consultant and volunteer at those hearings. He has also provided advice and support for successful ward boundary reviews to municipal clerks in Waterloo Region and was a member of a joint staff-citizen advisory committee that designed the ward system implemented in the City of Waterloo for the 2006 municipal election and in the late 1990s assisted a staff committee that examined possible modifications to the way Kitchener's Regional Councillors would be elected.

In 2005 he was retained by the City of Cambridge to assist its Ward Boundary Task Force and developed – in consultation with staff and the councillors appointed to the Task Force – a report that reviewed appropriate criteria for a new ward system (including design principles), an evaluation of alternative ward models and some assessment of specific ward proposals. In early 2008, he was awarded a contract to conduct a ward boundary review for the City of Kitchener; this process culminated in a recommendation accepted unanimously by Council. Subsequently, he was retained in 2009 by the Town of Milton, the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, the Town of New Tecumseth and the City of Windsor to conduct ward boundary reviews and served in an advisory capacity to the Clerk in the Town of Ajax on that municipality’s review. Dr. Williams also worked in collaboration with Watson and Associates on a ward boundary review in the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury and the Town of Gravenhurst. He also appeared in 2009 and 2010 as an expert witness before the Ontario Municipal Board on behalf of petitioners in the Town of Kearney, the City of Vaughan and the Town of East Gwillimbury on matters pertaining to the electoral arrangements in those municipalities.

In 2011 he prepared a report for the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board providing recommendations as to the optimal number or range of numbers of councillors for each of Halifax and Cape Breton Regional Councils. In 2011 – 2012 Dr. Williams conducted a ward boundary review for the Town of Oakville.

Public Meetings

The City held the following public meetings on the boundary review:

Monday, January 21, 2013
7 to 9 PM
Council Chamber - Markham Civic Centre
101 Town Centre Boulevard
Wards 7 & 8
Wednesday September 19, 2012
7 to 9 PM
Milliken Mills Community Centre
7600 Kennedy Road
Wards 3 & 6
Thursday September 20, 2012
7 to 9 PM
Markham Civic Centre
101 Town Centre Boulevard
Wards 4 & 5 Thursday
October 11, 2012
7 to 9 PM
Markham Civic Centre
101 Town Centre Boulevard
Wards 1 & 2
Wednesday October 17, 2012
7 to 9 PM
Thornhill Community Centre
7755 Bayview Avenue

Documents

Here are all the documents produced during the review:

Appeals

An appeal of the Ward Boundary Bylaw 2013-29 was filed with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) on May 3, 2013. There was a hearing on the appeal on September 23, 2013. At the hearing, the City submitted a motion to dismiss the appeal.

On October 24, 2013, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) issued a decision regarding the appeal. The Board’s written decision gives reasons for its decision to deny the various adjournment requests made before and on the day the hearing commenced and goes on to render the decision on the motion to dismiss the appeal without a hearing on the merits.

The OMB dismissed the appeal, and the Ward Boundary By-law came into force and effect.

For further information please contact:
Legislative Services, City of Markham
E-mail: atari@markham.ca
Phone: 905.477.7000 extension 2082