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eefitf mfca suns to ffifflemmmmsdit0tfg2m999 s3 politics province promising to move quickly on amalgamation after next years municipal election drawing the map of the future by lisa queen staff writer york regions political map will be redrawn within the next five years to accommodate amalgama tions municipal affairs minister steve gilchrist told the stouffville tribune tuesday the prediction comes on the heels of mondays announcement in which gilchrist outlined plans to unite municipalities in ottawa- carleton sudbury hamiltdn- wentworth and haldimand- norfolk the tribunes view page 6 proyincially appointed advisers in each of the four regions will have 90 days to make recommen dations on what the political land scape should look like gilchrist who strongly advocat ed merging metros six former municipalities into the new city of toronto said he wont force restructuring in the 905 regions of the greater toronto area instead hes waiting for the greater toronto services board to complete a report by december 2000 looking at governance issues and delivery of services however the scarborough mpp said he cant imagine the study rec ommending the status quo nine municipalities in york eight in durham three in peel four in- halton four regional governments the city of toronto and the gtsb he virtually guaranteed a new municipal structure within five years and likely sooner rather than later thats certainly the outside of any time frame to effect change in amalgamation york region politicians encouraged to draw own lines or province will do it for them governance gilchrist said during a 20minute phone interview this is not something we can leave on the back burner forever gilchrist encouraged towns and cities to come forward with their own mergers urging politicians to think of the best interests of their taxpayers for example he agreed to steer the amalgamation ofyorks six northern municipalities through the legislature if local councils agreed to the plan last week newmarket mayor tom taylor discussed uniting his town with aurora king township wwtcurchstourrville georgina and east gwillimbury some mayors such as kings margaret black and whitchurch- stoufrvilles wayne emmerson are adamantly opposed to the plan while auroras tim jones and georginas rob grossi are willing to study the concept gilchrist dismissed suggestions any amalgamations in the gta will have to wait until after the munici pal elections in november 2000 he argued that while the gtsb has another 16 months to com plete its report there is nothing preventing the agency from com ing in with recommendations before its deadline i made a commitment to move quickly once that report is received gilchrist said he is moving swiftly on amal gamations in pttawa- carleton sudbury haldimand- norfolk and hamilton because the communities have agreed to municipal restructuring although there is wide debate about which option is best- he dis missed suggestions he was letting politicians who have refused to study the issue objectively off the hook every region needs a different consideration steve gilchrist encouraging towns to come forward with own mergers stickmen used to show how politicians can be cut and millions of dollars saved wakeup call for regions and their leaders by lisa queen staff writer t a press conference monday municipal affairs minister steve gilchrist used stickmen as a prop to demon strate how dozens of politicians can be cut and millions of dollars saved when municipali ties in four ontario regions amalga mate although towns and cities in the gta arent being forced to unite yet york region mayors warn gilchrists chart proves the writing is clearly on the wall they fear that unless local coun cillors come up with their own amalgamation plans the province will eventually impose its own alter native which could mean splitting communities its like a wakeup call to every municipal government across the province markham mayor don cousens said yesterday from the association of municipalities of ontario conference in toronto he pointed out that when gilchrist announced the amalga mations of ottawacarleton hamilton haldimandnorfolk and sudbury he didnt limit his com ments to those four regions the ontario government is committed to easing the burden on local taxpayers by reducing the number size and cost of municipal government across the province gilchrist said these efforts have already reduced the number of ontarios municipal- governments by 28 per cent to 586 from 815 restructurings to date will gener ate an estimated tax savings of more than 220 million annually gilchrist urged all municipalities to consider restructuring as away of cutting taxes and providing more efficient local government although he failed to mention the province gave toronto 250 mil lion in loans and grants when its six cities merged he boasted toronto has saved 134 million in less than two years studies have pegged sudburys potential savings at between 9 mil lion and 15 million a year cousens wants to see york coun cillors negotiate their own solution despite more than two years of bit- ter and futile debates that were eventually shelved in 1997 if we get a consensus from within hegilchrist will help make it happen if we dontits obvious hes not going to force it right now but the writing is on the wall he said adding residents and business leaders should pressure councillors to cut politicians reduce taxes and streamline services i think this will open up fresh dialogue i think its a fresh chance cousens refused odiscuss his preferred option saying only that the regional level of government should be retained at least for the foreseeable future and yorks nine municipalities should be reduced maybe we could try to work with those municipalities that are amenable to uniting if that means king and whitchiffchstouffville are left out thafs up to them while other york mayors agree gilchrists announcement pres sures them into resuming discus- sions of amalgamation aurora mayortim jones doesnt believe the province plans to force york to unite i have my promise by al palladini the vaughan-king- aurora mpp assured jones during junes provincial election that queens park will leave restructur ing to local councils which im going to hold him to but richmond hill mayor bill bell suggested york politicians who refuse to discuss amalgamating their towns are hiding their heads in the sand at the same time he suspects councillors are incapable of coming to any agreement on the emotional issue t dont think anything will hap pen until somebody holds a gun to our heads and they have to cock the trigger too he said i think this latest round of amalgamations should serve as a wakeup call but i really think he gilchrist has to take a firm posi tion before anything will happen voluntarily bell favours turning york into one city although hes open to other suggestions such as one city in the south and another in the north newmarket mayor tom taylor has been pushing a northern city made up of newmarket aurora georgina east gwillimbury king township and whitchurch- stbuffville as a way of protecting rural areas saving money and improving services he urged councillors to hash out a plan for yorks municipalities adding hes disappointed gilchrist didnt give gta politicians a dead line to recommend restructuririg changes maybe we could try to work with those municipalities that are amenable to uniting if that means king and whitchurch- stouffville are left out thats up to them king mayor margaret black doesnt believe the province has any plans to pressure york to unite 1 dont think anything will happen until somebody holds a gun to our heads arid they have to cock the trigger too i just dont think thats ah issue she also dismissed suggestions that merging towns would protect rural areas which would no longer have to fight for new growth arid assessment to keep taxes down on the farm we have an expression about putting the foiin the hen house and putting vaughan or newmarket in charge of king is like putting the fox in the hen house she said look at what these lovely cities have done with the farmland they have vaughan is just marching up the 400 highway they have taken thousands and thousands of acres of farmland newmarket is the same if they take over theyll just march right through she also said the greatertoronto services board should be killed because its an ineffective body 4747 hwy 7 unionville east of kennedy 905 4775524 annual floor model clearance 25 50 off ends sept 4th