He'll redraw wards himself

Fri, December 23, 2005

OMB member Doug Gates may make his decision on new boundaries as early as today.

By JOE BELANGER, FREE PRESS CITY HALL REPORTER



The boundary czar who ordered London's political map redrawn is now going to fill in the new lines himself.

But it's still uncertain if the Ontario Municipal Board will issue an order in time for the new electoral ward boundaries to be in place for next November's municipal election.

At a hearing yesterday, OMB member Doug Gates refused to accept a new ward map with names instead of numbers designed by the citizens' group Imagine London.

"We're still very much hoping he'll issue an order before the end of the year," said Sam Trosow, who led Imagine London's battle for a new ward system. "But it's not the type of situation that happens all the time. This is a complicated issue here."

Trosow and city lawyer Geoff Belch both said they expect Gates to issue a decision about the new boundaries and timing of the order as early as this morning.

Belch began yesterday's hearing by arguing Gates should defer a decision, or at least a formal order, until after Feb. 13. On that day, the city goes to divisional court seeking leave to appeal Gates's Nov. 22 decision, in which he ordered the city to change its system of seven two-councillor wards to a system of 14 single-councillor wards.

The 14-ward system was promoted by Imagine London and backed by a petition signed by nearly 1,000 people.

The city's appeal will challenge the OMB's jurisdiction.

After an hour-long lunch break, Gates returned to say he will redraw the city's ward boundaries, but is still considering the city's request to defer his order until after Dec. 31.

Belch argued it's not "just and convenient" for Gates to "rush to judgment" and issue an order before the city's appeals are heard.

Under the Ontario Municipal Election Act, new ward boundaries must be in place by Jan. 1 to be in effect for the November election.

Belch explained that if an order is issued before Dec. 31, that would force the city to plan an election based on 14 wards with the possibility of having to revert to the seven-ward system if the appeal succeeds.

"I think that would cause uncertainty and chaos and make it very difficult for the city to run an election," Belch said. "I don't think that's in the public interest."

Belch also noted the OMB's own lawyer deferred a decision on the city's request for a review or re-hearing until after the appeal.

Finally, Belch said the board should "go slow" on the issue to allow further public input into new ward boundaries to avoid a potential court battle by electors or interest groups.

Trosow, meanwhile, dismissed the city's arguments as irrelevant. "The big issue is the board hasn't issued a final order yet."

If the board issues the order before Jan. 1, the court has the final decision, he said. "So, there's nothing the board could do that usurps the authority of the courts."

If there's chaos, Trosow said later, it's the city's fault for not acting on Imagine London's 900-plus signature petition and refusing to act on Gates' Nov. 22 interim order.

Gates issued the order after four days of hearings in October, when advocates for change argued the existing wards split communities such as downtown and Old East Village and stretched councillors over too wide an area.