Nine months after vowing major municipal reforms, Premier Doug Ford’s government is abandoning its “top-down approach” to regional government that left some fearing forced amalgamations.

Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark announced the move Friday saying Premier Doug Ford’s administration will instead give Ontario’s 444 municipalities $143 million to find efficiencies and improve services.

“Municipalities are the level of government closest to the people, but every community is different — one size doesn’t fit all,” said Clark.

Article Continued Below

“We are committed to helping and empowering municipalities to become more efficient and effective, so they can make every dollar count.”

The opposition NDP branded the Ford government’s decision a welcome “back-track” after previous measures that cut Toronto city council in half and cancelled regional chair elections in four areas during last year’s municipal campaigns.

“Doug Ford threatened to trample over democracy once again when he decided he knew better than Ontarians about the kind of local representation they deserve at municipal and regional governments,” said MPP Jeff Burch.

“Ford’s flip-flop on forced amalgamations is welcome, but his efforts to try to force municipalities to do what they always knew was wrong has wasted time, money and energy.”

Article Continued Below

In January, the Tories appointed Michael Fenn, a former deputy minister and one-time chief executive of Metrolinx, and Ken Seiling, the retired chair of Waterloo Region, to advise on reforming regional governments.

Click to expand

That sparked fears in some quarters that Queen’s Park would amalgamate Brampton with Caledon and allow Mississauga to secede from Peel Region.

“I was very pleased when I heard the news from Minister Clark last night,” Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown told the Star on Friday.

“Part of the impressive legacy of former premier Bill Davis was regional government which would allow municipalities to pool resources for services like police and waste management,” said Brown.

“We conducted two financial assessments on how disbanding the region would affect taxpayers. Both our Deloitte and EY Canada reports said the continuation of the region was in the best interests of the taxpayers of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. I am glad the government put taxpayers first.”

But Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who wants to separate from Peel, said she was “extremely disappointed that the province has decided to maintain the status quo on regional governance.”

“While this is not the outcome Mississauga had hoped for, we accept the province’s decision and will continue to work with our colleagues in Brampton and Caledon, and staff at the region to ensure good government continues for the residents of Peel and Mississauga,” said Crombie.

“The province has been clear that local communities need to decide what’s best for them in terms of governance, decision-making and service delivery. Despite today’s announcement, there are still some significant underlying issues at the Region of Peel,” she said.

“They are the same now as they were 15 years ago when (former mayor) Hazel McCallion and her council asked to separate from the region.”

But Clark said the government is sticking with the status quo after Fenn and Seiling received more than 8,500 submissions from the public.

Along with the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, they studied Waterloo, Niagara, Muskoka, Oxford and Simcoe — and their lower-tier municipalities.

In all, 82 municipalities were included in the study.

“Throughout this extensive review, the government heard that local communities should decide what is best for them in terms of governance, decision-making and service delivery,” the minister’s office said.

“After careful consideration of the feedback we heard through the course of the review, our government stands firm in its commitment to partnering with municipalities without pursuing a top-down approach. We will provide municipalities with the resources to support local decision-making.”

When Ford announced a regional reform earlier this year there were concerns he would act unilaterally as he did when first elected in 2018 by slashing Toronto city council in half in the middle of the civic election.

At the time he cut council, he also cancelled the first-ever regional chair elections in Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka.

Ford and Clark said they were merely pressing the “pause” button on those votes — but continuing to allow democratically elected chairs in Durham and Halton — because they were pondering municipal reform.