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. 24, February 2002
LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT BULLETIN – No. 24, February 2002

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. Zoning is a constraint on global trade??
2. Hinting de-amalgamation
3. Federal money stays federal
4. Subscribe to the bulletin
******
1. Zoning is a constraint on global trade??

Local governments use zoning to help control land use and building form in the hope that an interesting, vibrant and sustainable community will result. Many zoning changes are hard-fought battles between opposing visions for the community, and good planners and politicians are those who can create consensus around change.

All that seems ready to fly out the window as the World Trade Organization gears up to declare that municipal zoning can be seen as a constraint on trade. Local bylaws which control the hours that some business establishments are permitted to be open, says the WTO, should be seen in the same light. Municipal powers will be trumped by the powers of the global corporations able to obtain exemption from these local entanglements. It’s the struggle of citizens and downtown merchants against Wal-Mart stores on the edge of town, writ large.

One worrisome salvo against these local controls occurred quietly and in private - all WTO discussions take place behind closed doors – last October. A Working Party of Domestic Regulations, established by the WTO, was discussing what the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) might say about the regulation and control of domestic services. The minutes have been leaked, (a copy is in the Library of the our web site, http://www.localselfgovt.org , click on Library and go to `WTO zoning minutes.’) Those minutes make it clear that the draft before the Working Party treats zoning and restrictions on operating hours as `restrictive regulations’ which can be attacked through WTO mechanisms.

Ellen Gould, an independent trade researcher in Vancouver, is the author of "International Trade and Investment Agreements: A Primer for Local Governments" completed for the Union of BC Municipalities. She says a municipality would violate the GATS if its regulations were judged by the WTO to be `more burdensome than necessary.’

`Municipal zoning and hours of operation will have to pass a "necessity test",’ says Gould. `That involves being able to prove to the satisfaction of a WTO panel that these regulations are "necessary" and there was not something else the municipality could have done instead that would have been less burdensome. As we know, developers are always proposing that there is something less burdensome that municipalities could do.’

Gould notes that the new rules, if adopted, would apply not just to international developers, but also to local developers. International trade agreements have often been justified on the basis on allowing fair treatment to foreign investors, but these provisions go much further. They attack a basic municipal power.

`It doesn't matter at all if you are already giving exactly the same treatment to Canadian and foreign developers,’ says Gould. `You are already obligated to do that by another part of the agreement. What they are doing currently to expand the GATS is importing the “necessity” test from WTO agreements that deal with goods, to make them apply to services. This test has led to the most controversial rulings WTO panels have made and is responsible for successful challenges to endangered species legislation.

If zoning and operating hours are subject to WTO control, it’s likely those controls will then be expanded to licensing in general, and then any other municipal controls on services. `It will be devastating if applied across the board to zoning and licensing,’ says Gould, `and to standards that apply to services. It will hit municipalities particularly hard. Construction is a service. Retail development is a service. Hotel and bar operations are services. Sewage and water delivery are services. It’s hard to think of any area in municipal jurisdiction that could not potentially be affected.’

WTO negotiators will be refining the draft proposals in the next few months, with final positions ready by June. Those familiar with the talks say considerable pressure is being exerted by international retailers such as Wal-Mart, Marks and Spenser, and Carrefore, to have local controls such as zoning and store hours designated as barriers to trade.

On March 13 and 14 the so-called `C Trade Meetings’ will be held in Canada. These are meetings between federal trade officials and their provincial counterparts, where provincial officials are asked to agree to the federal negotiating positions.

Now seems an appropriate time for local politicians and their staff to be contacting provincial officials to influence the outcome of these meetings in mid-March, and have the provinces oppose these changes. Perhaps the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which has shown considerable interest in international trade agreements, can focus municipal attention on these meetings.

Notes from Ellen Gould on these negotiations, and Bulletins No. 15, 16, and 20 which each have an item dealing with global trade issues, are available in the web site’s Library at http://www.localselfgovt.org .

2. Hinting de-amalgamation

Jean Charest, leader of the Liberal Party in Quebec, has been clear about his desire to find a process to de-amalgamate the recent forced mergers of many municipalities in Quebec. The impact of the mergers on local democratic practise is becoming obvious to interested citizens, as Henry Aubin makes clear in his columns in the Montreal Gazette. On February 13 Aubin wrote about the demise of the South Shore community of St. Lambert, which has been merged into the megacity of Longueuil.
`At a meeting of St. Lambert's borough council, the first thing you notice is the nine chairs on stage. They used to be for the community's mayor and eight councillors. However, since Jan. 1 when Bill 170 demoted St. Lambert from a municipality of 21,000 to a borough, there's only a need for three of them - one for each of the councillors who represent it on the Longueuil megacity's council. Throughout the meeting, the extra pieces of furniture, which the janitor hasn't gotten around to removing, serve as a rough indicator of how much local democracy has shrunk.
`This matter of reduced representation is the most obvious problem that Bill 170 has created. In addition to the St. Lambert nine, there were also seven people who used to represent the 5,000 residents of LeMoyne, a town that has become part of the same borough. So instead of 16 people deciding matters ranging from snow clearing to zoning, there are now only three. That's an enormous concentration of power.
`It gets worse. Of the three councillors, one was by far the most popular in November's election. He is Marc-André Croteau, who cruised to a 1,383-vote margin over his nearest rival. The two other councillors squeaked to victory, one by 25 votes, the other by seven
`Yet Croteau has only minuscule influence in the borough council. That's because he's an independent, and the two others are members of Longueuil Mayor Jacques Olivier's party, Équipe Olivier. Abolishing the tradition of non-partisanship that had always prevailed in St. Lambert and LeMoyne, the duo has used its majority on the borough council to elbow Croteau out of all decision making.
`And I do mean all. At the first meeting of council, held last month, he could not get someone to even second a proposed agenda change.
`At the next meeting, held Monday, a citizen asked borough president Gilles Grégoire why Croteau could not attend caucus meetings at which bylaws would be discussed before their adoption at council meetings. Grégoire smiled smugly and answered, "The political dynamic has changed."’
Aubin goes on the recount the obliteration of mechanisms for citizens to learn about local business. His columns are at http://www.montrealgazette.com .

A provincial election is expected in Quebec later this year, and Bernard Landry’s PQ looks to be on shaky ground. The new watch-word in Quebec may be de-amalgamation.

In Ontario, the provincial New Democratic Party has issued a policy paper `A Brighter Idea for Ontario’s Cities’. It includes 67 different recommendations (the large number indicates the extent of the mending required to address change wrought by the provincial government over the last seven years), including the use of referendums for de-amalgamation. The policy paper also supports charters for the province’s larger cities so they have additional powers and more autonomy. The document can be found at http://www.abrighteridea.ca .

3. Federal money stays federal.

Municipal leaders found some support from Federal Finance Minister Paul Martin when they visited him on February 18, but it wasn’t financial. They asked for a share of the gas tax, but Martin wasn’t budging on that – he doesn’t like the idea of transferring dedicated sources of revenue. He confined himself to saying that cities needed a better deal. The exact terms of what is meant by that will soon be in the mail. Other ministers such as David Colonette also had supportive words, but as FCM president Jack Layton pointed out, the words have been heard before. What’s wanted is money.

So the disappointment continues. One politician noted that the federal budget was balanced at the expense of Canadian cities, most of which now provide a tax surplus to the federal and provincial governments under which they labour.

Looking on the bright side, one could say that the pressure continues to mount on the federal government to do something about the financial imbalance, and that it is now widely understood that larger cities are suffering because of the lassitude or harmful policies of senior governments. Nevertheless, a firm financial transfer would be more convincing of federal concerns.
4. Subscribe to this bulletin
The bulletin is sent, at no cost, to about 1200 individuals involved directly or indirectly in local government in Canada. The next bulletin will be available in March. 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, a library of relevant and useful documents, and an archives of past bulletins, 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.