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Local Government Under The Microscope ago, Ontario‘s system of local govâ€" ernment is galloping into difficulâ€" ties in serving the needs of the jet age. Municipalities, including counâ€" ties, are increasingly calling for assistance to cope with mounting problems of urban expansion in planning, financing the growing need for services, pollution control, land annexation and overal! adminâ€" istration. Difficulties in these and other areas result primarily from rapid postâ€"war growth and the trend to urbanization. Throughout Ontario it is becomâ€" ing apparent that the combination of population growth and urbanizâ€" *oliieg S e o ue " # * ( R Uiianes. .cc ° â€" Thursday, October 13, 1966 Municipal legislation drawn up before Canada became a nation is proving insdequate in the jet age. The problem is international and planners are looking hard for the answers. ‘This article outlines some of the problems and solutions beâ€" ies explored in Ontario. Trade and the Canadian Economy , ation, coupled with economic prosâ€" | perity and futuristic thinking, has | created a need for better organized planning and a demand for comâ€" munity services never envisioned by the authors of the province‘s 1849â€"based municipal legisiation. | Not only have cities developed a |new vigor but population has ‘spilhd over into rural areas which |are neither financially nor politiâ€" |efl‘lyoqni»odbdulwi'.hthcn- sulting problems. The division of farms into small parcels and the settlement of cityâ€" oriented people in suburban and rural areas compelied the introducâ€" tion of subdivision control and community planning. As the geoâ€" graphical areas of urban communiâ€" ties outgrew the boundaries of the political units, a sharp increase in the number of applications for anâ€" nexing and amaigamation took place in an attempt to correct the imbalance. . This created other problems. _ Enlarged units of administration are among the measures frequently Banquet Rooms Available Delicious Food, Congenial Atmosphere, Moderate Prices KMART IN ALBION MALL (ALBION RD. & KIPLING AVE.) OPEN DAILY 10 AM. TO 10 PM. [ All Seasons Restaurant Prime Roast Beet â€" Steaks â€" Chops â€" Chicken ond Turkey Dinners Special Sunday Fomily Dinners Porties â€" Receptions â€" Weddings Business and Service Clubs BURNHAMTHORPE MALL PLAZA 666 Burnhamthorpe Rd. Telephone 621â€"3731 Seating for 125 People Parking for 500 Cars So pressing have been the probâ€" lems confronting many municipaliâ€" ties and counties that they have reâ€" While the term "regional govâ€" ernment" is foggily imprecise, it implies a relatively large area ip which areaâ€"wide functions and serâ€" vices such as finance, engineering, planning, and assessment are perâ€" formed by an overall government. At the same time, many services of a purely local nature may conâ€" tinue to be performed by local enâ€" tities. year ago after a study by the Onâ€" tario Legislature‘s Select Commitâ€" tee on Municipal Affairs. The comâ€" mittee shared the view voiced in other quarters that the county should serve as a base for enlarged regional government. Others, howâ€" ever, suggest that the county areas are unsuitable because they reflect political rather than economic boundaries. suggested as the basis for an overâ€" all solution, This was one of the recommendations put forward a STUDIES LAUNCHED A Division of the S. S. Kresge Company Limited "Requests for these studies come from the municipalities or counties themselves," explains Dr. Cumâ€" ming, who is a former chairman of the Ontario Municipal Board and oneâ€"time solicitor for the City of Windsor. "A majority of local govâ€" Waterloo County, nibbled away at through annexations by several population centres within its bounâ€" daries, was also the subject of a study by the department‘s comâ€" munity planning branch. This led to last year‘s designation of the county, plus the cities of Galt, Kitâ€" chener and Waterloo, as a joint planning areaâ€"a milestone in the history of local planning organizâ€" ation in the province. More recent studies are being overseen by Dr. L. R. Cumming, Q.C., former deputy minister of the Municipal Affairs Department and fullâ€"time consultant to the Minister on matters of local government policy. The first of these studies â€"on the Ottawa areaâ€"has been completed, as well as on Peelâ€"Halâ€" ton colnties. Others are underway in the Lakehead area and Lincolnâ€" Welland counties. . Future studies may be conducted in the Brantfordâ€"Brant area, the Hamilton, Londonâ€"Middlesex, Musâ€" koka district and Ontario and Wentworth counties. pal Affairs to launch studies into the entire local government strucâ€" ture of their regions. As far back as the late 1940‘s municipalities in the Toronto area called for a study of their interâ€" Provincial Government in 1953. The tailorâ€"made Toronto formula attracted wide attention because it represented the first federated local government setâ€"up in the Western World. quested the Department of Munici lems which led to the establishment of. Metropolitan ‘Toronto by the Dr. Cumming emphasizes that local government authoritiesâ€"offiâ€" cial or otherwiseâ€"are a long way from the solutions to interâ€"municiâ€" pal problems. Nor do they expect to find a catchâ€"all formula for the entire province. ‘‘The surveys are an attempt to bring things into focus and the emphasis is on the word ‘study,‘ he says. ‘"Municipal problems vary from one end of the province to the other. The problems of adminâ€" findings of a study," Dr. Cumming explains. "It is up to the governâ€" ment to determine what actionâ€"if anyâ€"will be taken. Setcion 91 of the British North America Act clearly rests responsibility for local government organizations with the province." gather pertinent data, probe interâ€" municipal problems and receive briefs from interested organizâ€" ations and individuals. METHODS USED Methods used in the investigaâ€" tions are left to the discretion of port are later submitted to the municipalities are bound by the mendations contained in a final reâ€" through the area under : Minister. cua:.‘m-uun. minimum of one year to complete, run high. Municipalities must agree to pay half the $75,000 to $80,000 total cost. pal administration. They and their must be a significant one economiâ€" Consultants appointed by the mummm usually have a background in poliâ€" ernments in any area must be fav before a study will be sanctioned." "Neither the government nor the CONSULTANTS HEALTH «+ BEAUTY LDEPARTMENTJ Goociadt = In general, postâ€"war expansion throughout the province has reâ€" Dr, Cumming says that problems of interâ€" municipal relationships and the suitability of long estabâ€" lished boundaries are international. "Similar studies have been conâ€" ducted or are underway in every province of Canada," he says, "with the possible exception of Newâ€" foundland, as well as in Britain and the U.S. We are all fishing in the same pool for the answers." The Ford Motor Company‘s proâ€" posed assembly plant at Talbotâ€" ville, midâ€"way between London and St. Thomas, creates interâ€"municipal problems typical of those being faced today. Located in Southwold Township, it will represent a huge chunk of industrial assessment. At the same time, it appears likely to require a multiâ€"million dollar water pipeline and will probably permanâ€" ently disrupt the development patâ€" terns of St. Thomas and London because of its magnetic attraction for people and ancilliary industry. In essence, the effects of this inâ€" dustrial development will be felt in at least two cities, two counties and a dozen townshipsâ€"none of which has any power to deal with the overâ€"all aspects of the situâ€" ation. and looking for leadership in guidâ€" ing them into tomorrow. At the same time, it is obvious that none of them want a new system ramâ€" med down their throats. The anâ€" swers will only be found in a spirit of coâ€"operation." “hrlu-mvitbp_- conceived ideas about changes in local government, the study conâ€" Hamilton Region The Oakville â€" Burlington â€" Hamâ€" ilton region is a striking example of municipalities expending into the open spaces which once separâ€" ated" them. Problems arising in such instances include industrialâ€" commercial zoned land abutting on residential. Higher assessment for township land resulting from inâ€" creasing development causes farmâ€" ers to sell their properties. _ Using land to the best advanâ€" tage beyond the immediate needs of an individual municipality is anâ€" other serious problem when planâ€" ning is confined to the purely local level. Perhaps the best example of this is _ the _ Niagara _ Penâ€" insula, where industry increasingâ€" ly sprawls across some of the best fruit growing land in the world. Several municipal units of a reâ€" administered by the county can also be severely cut back. "The city has new problems too. The rate of growth may be greater than it can finance without a treâ€" mendous tax hike. Services may have to be provided for say, 1000 new houses, but in the opinion of the Ontario Water Resources Comâ€" mission, which approves all exâ€" penditures on sewerage facilities and water supply, the longâ€"term may indicate that services will be needed for three times as many homes. This is the type of prob lem which has arisen in the Ottaâ€" several sections at the same time." While annexation may solve some of these problems it can also add to the difficulties of other t for rural roads "Because there is no forum for the exchange of ideals and headâ€" aches, and because of the tradiâ€" tional differences in the backâ€" ground of county and city offiâ€" cials, too often an invisible barâ€" rier has developed," the Municipal Affairs Minister observes. He says it is imperative that all levels of local government exercise leadership in developing an effecâ€" tive system of regional governâ€" ment. Change is necessary not only in the light of today‘s needs, he believes, but to allow planning for the future. believes regional government would reduce the discrepancy in the size and nature of services provided by more than 900 local government units and help resolve the difficulâ€" ties of all concerned in adminisâ€" tering programs to uniform standâ€" ards. open yearâ€"round, buses bring stuâ€" dents from a wide radius to conâ€" solidated multi â€" roomed schools equipped with upâ€"toâ€"date educaâ€" tional aids. Where once there was a multitude of education boards, one serves the entire area. Multiâ€"purpose or regional govâ€" ernment developed from existing local structure appears at present to offer the best solution to the municipal problems of boundaries, legal powers and fiscal resources, according to the Minister of Muniâ€" cipal Affairs, J. W. Spooner. He representatives, most municipaliâ€" ties throughout the province belong to regional development associaâ€" primarily concerned with promotâ€" ing and development their respecâ€" tive areas as good places in which to work, play and live. On the Ontario rural scene, the vious casualty of broadened local with is an obâ€"