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IV SEAN PEARCE spmrceOyrmgxom mum's some- ' thing wrong in your neighbourhood. who you gonna call? tashode’tennmewhokmspon- sibleforapanicmupmblem ortherepon? lfyourbmismutindyhte. doesmedeme Most people (lam differentiate that easily betwun the difierent levels of guvemment, he said. “They just assume someone is taking care of the various issues." Even so. Mr. Drummond said citizens are not entirely at fault for being a little ilfy on how gov- ernment functions. In the game of “who does what“, things can quickly become confusing. The role at the different levels of government is not explained all that well. Mr. Dmmmond said. and it (an also get quite compli- cated. STA}! MTG/Wt WI!" Frank Hmriques is senior team lead, hub 3, with York operations. maintainance and monitbring. last yanhisdepnmnattperfomndnarlymtestsonyommtermpply. D Tomdthewholestory,9oto youturqionmm The 5-0 Let‘sgctyoqum galvanin'ng issue and/ or the pres- ence of a very Charismatic leader before people really tune into politics ' For those seeking to learn more about how gtwemment ftmctions before one or both of lfyoumafinienwstifiedby Grammatime WNINNMOI Wtdon’twonyyouue maherkUnivenitypoliti- calaciencepmfessorBomem- ( )ften. leveis of government will m-operate on an issue or share responsibility for a service and that only ends up further muddying the waters bx people. Compounding lhepmblem is the fact most peopie simply don't pay attention to government. Mr. Drummond That is. of course. until it impacts them in some gowmnwm goes more or less unnoticed by the public. he conlinued. but stop L‘oflecfing garbageorraisctaxeslooslwply andpeoplewillgetfimdupina Figuring out who to call can be confusing A3 tong as things run smoothly. big way. An informal York Region Media Group poll in the north end ofthe region found virtually everyone knew who thou mayor was. but iustMuofmepreoplequet-ied knewmemmeofmeirward One respondent could name all councillors by first name. while meodmrkncwmemllnameof justasinglecounciflor. ‘ "That's not really surprislng' Mr. lkummond said. “It’s often the case that people don‘t know who their provincial ptemiu is" The dismal voter turnouts at rates of participation at provincial W 1 an Md Arce'sSnrw‘; 3m x. o; F' ‘ I, Markham 905.294.3882 - m “45!: and federal levels seems to cale people go back to being apa- thetic and complacent reasonably quickly once their initial outrage fades. Mr. Dmmmond said. “Now. hmdoyou fix it? I'm not sure.” he said. "lfl knew how (Odo it. I‘d beout theredoingil." Mr. Drummond believes it wiflukemeemetgenoeofsorm For those seeking to learn more about how government functions before one or both of those things happen. here is a brief primer on how gavemmem in our area operates. First. thvm are 444 municipaliâ€" ties in Ontario and. .15 creations of the province rather than the constitution. all govemed by the Municipal Act. Every municipality must also adhere to other pertinenl pieces of provincial and federal lam. such as the Planning Act. Municipalities have cenain powers under the Municipal Act and can pass bylaws. esiablish midgetsandsetmelocaltaxrata Municipal governments are generally overseen by an elected council made up of councillors. elected t'itht by wards or at-- large. and led by a mayor. raw:- or chairperson. In 2013. the budget for York Region was $2.9 billion. including capital and operating expenses. whereas the budgets for Inner-tier municipalities range from $32.7 million in East (Bwillimbury. to $373.7 million in Markham. Wet-tier municipalities have a myriad of responsibilities and look after the fire service. bylaw enforcement. local roads. parks and recreation. cum-side gar- bage collection and also serve as tax collectors for the upper-tier municipality and school boards Our region consists of one upper-tier level of gm'emmem. the Regional Municipality onork. and nine lower-tier municipal} ties - Aurora. East Gwillimbury. market. Richmond Hill. Vaughan and Whilchun‘h Sloufivillo. Mmk'palphmnmwbenand > East 905-478-4282 0: visit Wag D ngina:9054764301 0: visit D W macs-771433000: ' .(a D nghanz9OSâ€"8324281avisfl D W-SMszms- 640-19“) 0: visit Wm D Mon:905-727-3123 0: visit . Manny-5321mm“; b W2905-477-55300N8fl D WW895519SN