Group seeks more wards, no board of control

The Lonodon Free Press. May 26 2005.

JOE BELANGER, Free Press City Hall Reporter 2005-05-26 02:56:31

London should discard board of control and design more and smaller wards based on "communities of interest," says a new citizens' group.

And the concept -- including such ward names as East London-Carling, Central-Oxford Park and Hamilton-Glen Cairn -- has the backing of the city's largest taxpayer coalition, the Urban League of London.

"We hope people will consider this concept seriously because we think it will lead to better representation and better decision making," said league president George Sinclair.

"We think communities could be better served if councillors could focus on specific constituencies and their issues. And that doesn't preclude them from pursuing and representing city-wide issues any more than the current ward map does."

Calling itself Imagine London, the new citizens' group is led by law professor Sam Trosow.

The group is designing 14 new wards based on population and common interests to replace the current seven-ward system based on a diversity of interests.

"We thought there ought to be a citizens' initiative," Trosow said in a news release.

The group said it's trying to provide an alternative structure and generate public debate before a June 13 city council vote on a motion to keep the status quo.

A majority of voters said in a November 2003 election referendum they wanted a smaller council and the elimination of board of control.

Although the vote fell short of the required 50 per cent to make the referendum binding, council opted to accept the results and revisit an issue debated several times over the last 100 years.

London's four-member board of control, elected city-wide, is the only one of its kind in the country. It oversees most financial, personnel and legal issues.

Other cities have an executive committee selected from elected members of council.

The Imagine London concept was first revealed at a May 17 public meeting.

But councillors, in committee-of-the-whole, voted 9-7 in favour of the status quo -- a mayor and four controllers elected at large and two councillors in each of seven wards.

That recommendation must still be ratified by council at its regular meeting June 13.

Trosow argues smaller wards with common interests make it easier for elected representatives to focus on issues and brings residents "closer to the process."

London's current ward system is described as pie shaped, with all but Ward 7 emanating from the core and stretching to the city's outer limits.

In some cases, distinct communities are split between wards.

"When you have minorities, or distinct communities, you don't want to further dilute their voting strength by chopping them into smaller pieces," Trosow said.

Andrew Sancton, a local government expert at the University of Western Ontario, said "it's a good idea in principle."

But, he added, the communities in question wouldn't be the same size in population, so some communities of interest would still have to be split or attached to others.

Sancton said London is too small to organize wards into communities of interest and too large to have councillors elected at large.