Oxford County Included in Regional Review

Wednesday, 16 January 2019 13:51

Oxford County will undergo a regional review from the Province to see if our local government is providing the services it should in a cost effective manner.

OXFORD COUNTY - Oxford County has been included in a regional review from the Province.

Local MP and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Ernie Hardeman.

"The review will look at local regional government to see if it is providing the services that it should in a cost effective manner. They will review the findings with the regional governments and the public as to whether they think that improvements could be made."

Hardeman says a review has not been done in Oxford County for 50 years.

"The reason Oxford is part of this review is because it was formed as a region, if you look at the services performed by the upper tier and lower tier, the division is similar in Oxford with the regions, not with the Counties and while the Counties have some of the services of the upper tier, they are differently aligned than they are in the regions."

The review raises the questions about amalgamations and smaller governments. CAO for the County Peter Crockett says he was not surprised Oxford was included in this review and they welcome the opportunity for dialogue with the Government.

"I think it is key to realize that Government structure is all about accountability, affordability, how services are delivered and at what cost. Economies of scale do play a role, there is no question of that in my view, what is critical for everyone to understand in perspective is frankly community identity is not dictated by your government structure. Frankly community identity, is about residence, it's about the businesses and what different community stakeholders and partners define as that identity. I don't think it's a big fear, I think it is more about, how do we get to what's best and quite frankly move forward."

The Province will review 82 municipalities in the review and will also look at Halton, York, Durham, Waterloo, Niagara, Peel, Muskoka District, the County of Simcoe and their lower-tier municipalities.

The former Regional Chair of Waterloo Ken Seiling and the Deputy Minister and Founding CEO of regional transportation Metrolinx Michael Fenn will perform the review. Hardeman says he expects they will have a report ready by the end of the calendar year.