Amalgamation

 

02.18.01

 

As you might imagine we have worked diligently since our last communication to ensure that the future of your township included provisions for maintaining our ideals and principles of environmental protection and our way of life on the Bay.

 

The Town of Parry Sound and Sequin attempted another takeover of the Township, subsequent to their first failed attempt.  You will recall their first attempt was unsuccessful as the rules of amalgamation had been changed (at the last hour) to provide that any successful amalgamation/annexation required contiguous borders.

 

They seemed intent on conquering the world so they devised a second attempt to annex only the south half of the township.  Their plan included a “swap” of some islands on the Bay which  according to their viewpoint,  provided a contiguous border. There was however, no way to provide a border with the north half of the township.  So rather than admitting defeat they submitted their proposal to the province anyway, hoping the province would not notice that the north half of the township would remain a separate municipal entity. As you know one of the three basic rules of amalgamation required fewer municipalities.

 

Of course another requirement of the process included the need for a public meeting.  It does appear (from our viewpoint) that the Town and Sequin could not stomach another public meeting, remembering the pummeling they took at the first meeting in November. The province will not recognize the second proposal until a public meeting is held.  My sense is that will never happen.

 

We feel quite comfortable that we have removed immediate threats to your township on these fronts.  However, please recognize that Sequin Township still feels that their future is in peril (due to their perception that we are attempting to “trade” parts of Sequin to the District of Muskoka in return for the Township of Georgian Bay) and the only way to guard against future changes is to destroy our township.

 

Of course the really good news is that the province appears to be backing away from amalgamations having finally recognized that “savings due to amalgamation are illusionary.”  We are not sure if they have given up only on large urban amalgamations and will continue with smaller ones, and as importantly, will they attempt to finalize outstanding amalgamations in process.

 

As you know,  we have been trying to complete our marriage with the Township of Georgian Bay (TGB).  This is complicated not only because they are in a different district, but their district is governed by a second tier government.  The District Council has worked hard to prevent TGB from leaving.  They have now released a report, commissioned by the District, that attempts to reveal their perception of the implications to the District, if TGB is allowed to leave.

 

 

Their report (obviously) differs from the report prepared jointly by the TGB and your township.  At this stage there is really no way to ascertain whose “numbers” more accurately reflect the whole situation.  Our plan is to have the authors of both reports present their findings to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs simultaneously.  This should help to clear away some of the smoke and mirrors contained in the District’s report, and ultimately provide the correct information the province needs to determine the pros and cons of the proposed amalgamation.

 

Please forward any thoughts, ideas or concerns to me.  I look forward to hearing from you.

 

E.S.(Rick)Zanussi                                                                                                                                                 705.746.5135                                          ezanussi@zeuter.com

Isabella Island                                                      705.746.7863 (F)

Box 663

Parry Sound, ON

P2A 2Z1