South Bruce will be keeping it’s ward system for the next municipal election.
The Ontario Municipal Board has ruled in favour of two residents who appealed a by-law passed by council that would have seen the municipality elect councillors at large, instead of from two wards starting with the 2010 election.
Mayor Bill Goetz is disappointed and says the Municipal Act states in black and white that muncipal councils have the authority to set up or eliminate wards.
He says the commissioner who made the ruling either doesn’t know what the Municipal Act states or chose to ignore it.
Commissioner Steven Stefanko’s ruling says the Municipal Act has no criteria for a council to follow when it comes to changing its electoral system.
Goetz believes that councillors knows at the local level what is best for the community, the OMB.
The by-law to move to an at-large system was approved in December 2008, three councillors voted in favour of it, three voted against, with Goetz voting in support to break the tie. Soon after, two residents appealed it to the OMB on the grounds that it would create inequality.
Goetz believes doing away with the wards would have helped eliminate political division between communities within the municipality.
He says it would have been a giant step forward to getting the community together more.
Stefanko’s ruling states that based on the fact that South Bruce Council appears to be operating well, the level of political division is not as serious as suggested.
The ruling also states that eliminating wards would also increase the workload for election candidates and discourage people from running for council.