Vaughan begins push to demand independence from York Region

In the wake of the Ford government’s decision to dissolve the Region of Peel, local politicians in Vaughan are pushing the province to give the city its independence from York Region, setting the stage for the next battle over municipal governance in the Greater Toronto Area.

The province is expected to appoint facilitators to review the regions of York, Durham, Halton, Niagara, Simcoe and Waterloo to examine whether the two-tier systems should be dissolved, amalgamated or left intact. It’s part of the government’s push to streamline housing construction approvals in Ontario’s most populous cities.

As part of recent provincial changes, Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca is set to receive strong mayor powers on Canada Day, giving him the ability to appoint the chief administrative officer, set the municipal budget, and even overrule Vaughan city council on matters that have been deemed a provincial priority.

During a special meeting on Tuesday, Vaughan city council urged the province to go even further and passed a motion appealing to the Ford government to sever the city from the rest of the region.

The motion highlighted a population increase of 30 per cent between 2011 and 2021 to 323,000 — a number that’s expected to grow to 570,000 by 2051, as one of the reasons why Vaughan should be converted into a single-tier municipality.

Vaughan, the motion points out, “contributes the highest share of property tax revenue” with the region accounting for 30.87 per cent of the taxes collected by the region of York.

A resolution, presented by Del Duca, recommended a new governance model allowing Vaughan and all York Region cities “to become single tier municipalities” while certain shared services across the region would cost-shared.

It asked staff to work on a case for separation, including retaining a consultant to crunch the numbers.

1:53 Markham Mayor suggests York Region become one city

The request is in stark contrast to a statement from Markham’s mayor just days earlier. Mayor Frank Scarpitti said he wanted to see York Region consolidated to increase efficiencies, just days before Vaughan asked to go the other way.

“Consolidating into one city would result in significant savings in both operating and capital budgets,” Scarpitti wrote in a statement released in mid-June.

“I believe there are greater benefits to consolidating services in York Region than maintaining the status quo.”

The population of Markham is around 340,000, according to the 2021 Census, slightly larger than the population of Vaughan.

Scarpitti also drew on the example of the dissolution of Peel Region. The message he said he took from that decision was that there is no argument to maintain the status quo in York Region.

Other mayors in the region were quick to disagree. Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas said he was strongly opposed to the amalgamation of his and other York municipalities into a mega city.

The Ford government is expected to appoint facilitators to regions including York in the coming weeks.

— with files from The Canadian Press