bulletins.cfm

bulletins

The bulletin is prepared by John Sewell, the site manager, with the assistance and under the guidance of the advisory committee. It is published monthly, and is being sent to a wide range of people across Canada. Past copies of the bulletin will be archived in this section of the site.

search | show all | subscribe to the bulletin

Bulletin No. 16, May 2001
LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT BULLETIN – NO. 16, May 2001

The purpose of this bulletin is to focus debate on the need to increase
local self government in Canada and to help local communities achieve more
autonomy. The local self government web site is http://www.localselfgovt.org

******
In this issue:
1. Urban Task Force established
2. Provincial/municipal relations in Ontario
3. Montreal amalgamations
4. More on Free Trade Agreements
5. Subscribe to the bulletin
******
1. Urban Task Force established

The Task Force on Urban Issues announced by the federal government on January 9, 2001 was formally established on May 9. According to its chair, it will have its first meeting in September and will produce a final report by December 2002. It is clearly a leisurely schedule.

Judy Sgro, an MP from Toronto and former member of Toronto City Council, is chairing the Task Force. She says the Task Force does not expect to undertake any research of its own but will simply gather information already available. Ms Sgro says the Task Force will be accessible, with open dialogue and plenty of public hearings. She used the phrase “action oriented” to describe the Task Force. It will look at the following kinds of issues:

- key opportunities for increasing economic competitiveness in cities;
- environmental issues such as air, water quality and land?use;
- approaches to strengthening cultural assets;
- urban transit;
- effective approaches to settlement and integration services for newcomers to Canada, bearing in mind existing agreements with provinces;
- the specific needs and circumstances of at risk populations such as urban
Aboriginal people, recent immigrants, persons with disabilities and the homeless;

- crime?related issues facing large urban centres including substance abuse and sustainable prevention responses.

Ms Sgro says that consideration of these issues raises questions of jurisdiction, and some concerns have already been expressed in Quebec. She expects an interim report to be produced by April of next year.

The Task Force consists of: Chair, Judy Sgro, MP (York West); Vice Chairs, Bernard Patry, MP (Pierrefonds-Dollard) and Senator Tommy Banks (Alberta);
Members: Reg Alcock, MP, (Winnipeg South); Carole-Marie Allard, MP, (Laval Est); Mauril Bélanger, MP, (Ottawa-Vanier); Senator Thelma Chalifoux, (Alberta); Stephen Owen, MP, (Vancouver-Quadra); Geoff Regan, MP,(Halifax West); Andy Savoy, MP, (Tobique-Mactaquac); Hélène Scherrer, MP, (Louis Hébert); Allan Tonks, MP, (York South-Weston); Bryon Wilfert, MP, (Oak Ridges)

2. Provincial/municipal relations in Ontario

AMO, the Association of Municipalities in Ontario, recently surveyed its member municipalities on how they see relations with the provincial government. The hostility is revealing.

The first question was “Whether you think the provincial government has a plan for local government in Ontario?” 32% of responses answered NO; 65% answered YES, and went on to say the plan was “to exercise more control over local government” or “to make municipalities a scapegoat to satisfy the province’s political agenda” or “more downloading, more amalgamations.”

To the question “In dealing with municipalities, have the actions taken by the provincial government been satisfactory, neutral, unsatisfactory?” 74% responded unsatisfactory, 5% satisfactory and 4% `somewhat unsatisfactory’. None of the respondents answered `quite satisfactory.’

To the question “On balance, do you believe the Province’s policy toward municipalities is on the right track or the wrong track?”, 78% said `WRONG TRACK, 13% RIGHT TRACK. To the question, “Do you feel the Province is communicating properly with municipalities?” 88% said NO, 7% YES.

In regard to AMO’s own performance, 64% of respondents felt that AMO was being ASSERTIVE with the Province, but 50% suggested it should become AGGRESSIVE.

Pat Moyle, executive director of AMO, said that he was not aware that any other municipal association has undertaken a comparable study. More than half of the 447 municipalities in Ontario responded to the survey. The full survey is at www.amo.on.ca

3. Montreal Amalgamations

As municipalities on Montreal Island prepare to go to court to challenge Bill 170 on May 22, hostility to the amalgamation process is heating up. Three mayors have resigned from an advisory arm of the Transition Committee, which is appointed by the provincial government to implement the amalgamation. As well, half of the 28 municipalities being amalgamated have now instructed their staff not to work with the Transition Committee. The apparent lack of transparency in the operation of the Transition Committee has been cited as a major reason for this withdrawal. A request has been made that the Transition Committee suspend operations during the court hearing.

4. More on Free Trade Agreements

The last Bulletin contained a note about NAFTA and the Metalclad case against Mexican authorities. That provoked Councillor Fred Clipsham to forward his motion endorsed in January 2000 by Regina City Council about municipal subsidies to sports arenas:

WHEREAS the Federal Government has recently announced a proposal to support major league hockey franchises with taxpayers’ money; and
WHEREAS Molson’s Centre in Montreal pays four times more property taxes than all 22 United States-based NHL teams combined; and
WHEREAS the North American Free Trade Agreement was intended to limit government subsidization of industries through grants, tax breaks and other means.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Regina urges the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to launch an action under the North American Free Trade Agreement which would require stadiums in United States cities to pay their fair share of municipal property taxes.

The FCM has since decided not to forward the motion on to its annual meeting later this month in Banff, but perhaps someone will find as way to put it onto the floor for debate.

Regarding Metalclad, the decision of Justice David Tysoe of the B.C. Supreme Court reviewing the tribunal’s decision, came down on May 2, although the full text is not yet available. The BC decision set aside the earlier decision awarding Metalclad substantial damages after the Mexican municipality refused to issue permits to construct the hazardous waste facility. A memo circulated by the Mexican Embassy in Ottawa states “the [B.C.]Court agreed with Mexico that the international tribunal has acted in excess of its jurisdiction in stating that the municipality of Guadalcazar and other Mexican authorities had violated the agreement. It rejected the finding of the denial of treatment in accordance with international law and two of the tribunal’s expropriation findings that were the subject of most concern to the Mexican government and that could have established a negative precedent for future claims. Nevertheless, the court declined to interfere with the determination of the tribunal that the decree issued by the Governor of San Luis, Potosi, in 1997 prevented the (facility) from operating and that that constituted an expropriation.” Compensation payable to Metalclad was reduced by the Court to $15 million.

It appears that this decision does not undermine a municipality’s right to zone property, but instead it attacks the state’s authority to virtually expropriate the property by designating it an ecological park. This decision is comparable to decisions in Canada which conclude that a municipality is not permitted to strip land of all uses by designating it for parks use only.

5. Subscribe to this bulletin

The bulletin is sent, at no cost, to about 1400 individuals involved directly or indirectly in local government in Canada. We invite you to subscribe by going to the ‘Bulletin’ tab of the web site http://www.localselfgovt.org and following the instructions. More information about the sponsors of the bulletin and members of the advisory committee can be found on our web site. We appreciate your comments, your feedback (to j.sewell@on.aibn.com ), and items of interest that you wish to share with us and others who visit the web site.