At the recent Council Meeting of the Whole it was recommended in a report by staff: that staff be directed to include a Ward Boundary and Council Composition Project in the proposed 2025 Business Plan for consideration in the amount of $3,000.
The amalgamation of Port Elgin, Southampton and Saugeen Township in 1999 resulted in the formation of Saugeen Shores, with the three wards when it comes to elections.
In the proposed 2025 Business Plan, staff were to be directed to include a Ward Boundary and Council Composition Project for consideration and staff were asked to prepare a report to provide Council with options for a review of the ward boundaries and or the make-up of Council.
Ward Boundary and Council composition under the Municipal Act, governs a municipal authority to divide or re-divide the municipality into wards, or dissolve existing municipal wards. These actions must be made by by-law, which has a prescribed notice requirement and appeal period with appeals to be heard by the Ontario Land Tribunal. For a by-law to come into effect to establish, modify, or dissolve municipal wards for the 2026 municipal election, it would need to be adopted, pass the 45-day appeal period, and resolve any appeals prior to January 1, 2026. Additionally, both the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation and the Chief Electoral Officer for the province would need to be notified by January 1, 2026.
The budget consideration of $3,000 is included for the posting of notices or other communications necessary for this project. The success of this project needs good public engagement and well-informed respondents.
Deputy Mayor Diane Huber said that she was aware of other communities going through similar reviews. “Would this be an opportunity for shared resources? I think this is particularly timely right now as the fastest growing part of Saugeen Shores is actually happening in the former Township lands and I would suspect that most of the people moving into those homes and apartments would identify more with ‘living in Port Elgin or Saugeen Shores’. So, i think there is an opportunity here to engage the community in how we elect people and, technically, how big council is is part of it. I think there are definitely people who feel how they would vote is different from where they live and that’s not a good way to move forward.”
Councillor Cheryl Grace it was an appropriate time to look at the issue given the growth of the municipality. “Different processes of public consultation will be valuable from collecting the public’s views about the ward system and how they would like to see something different and the opportunity for education.”
Councilor John Divinski questioned that, if there is a ballot on the issue, at least 50% of the electoral would have to vote on the question. “Therefore, does this mean that at least 50% of the electorate for any given election would vote because we haven’t done very well for the 50% mark in elections.”
Councilor Dave Myette said that the urban sprawl has taken place primarily in Saugeen Ward but they consider themselves living in Port Elgin which is driven by the Post Office. “Saugeen is in third place when it comes to population so is the balancing of population a priority or simply living in a subdivision in the town boundaries? I know that I live in the township but when asked, I say Port Elgin.”
Town Clerk Dawn Mittelholtz, said it depends on what the public wants to see.
“Hopefully, with open houses and public consultation there will be a lot of interest,” said Myette. “It may even spur interest in the 2026 election. As was pointed out, turn-out has not been very high.” He also went on to ask if any boundary changes would affect suppliers Westario Power and Hydro One. Mayor Luke Charbonneau ensured that there would be no implications.
Vice-deputy Mayor Mike Myatt said that he had not heard much from constituents regarding the ward system versus voting ‘at large’. “I think things are going quite well. There are those who may be disgruntled but overall, the way we are governing with a council of nine is going quite well. I don’t think we should be spending a whole lot of money on this. If the community thinks the position of Vice-deputy mayor is not necessary, it doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. Sometimes we do these studies and reviews and end up where we started.”
Councilor Bud Halpin said that he has never received a call about ward boundaries. “If it isn’t broke why fit it?”
“I’ve been clear about this in my view, the boundaries of the wards and the composition of the Council are the purview of the people and that we can look at it and make recommendations, but ultimately it has to be their decision by plebiscite,” said Mayor Luke Charbonneau. “I will oppose vigorously any decision by Council to make those changes unilaterally. If in my view, if there is to be any change, it should be on the 2026 ballot for implementation in 2030.”
“I’m not sure a lot of people think a lot about this as they have a lot of bigger fish to fry in their lives than worrying about the composition of this Council or the boundaries of the wards,” added the Mayor. “People care about the governance of the municipality and whether it works or not and, in my experience, Saugeen Shores Council has always worked extremely well by balancing two things – representation in the wards, so that residents in each of them know who to call when they have an issue and, those who come here to this table work for the benefit of the entire community. Therefore, we have the best of both worlds in my view – representation by geography and a municipal council that, frankly, is one of the most cohesive municipality councils in the region and always has been. That’s one of the reasons, we are the fastest growing community in the area and Ontario because we’ve been governed well dating back 25 years and before that.”
“We have housing, Bruce C and a lot of other things,” added the Mayor, “so is this really what the people want us working on? To me it’s low on the priority list of what we need to be doing. Today, I will be voting against this resolution.”
Recommendation was carried.
