Seven Wards to replace eight, fate of Deputy Mayor seat still to be decided
Posted May 27, 2025
New Tecumseth council Monday night opted to run with a seven Ward system, which is the alternative to the preferred option of six Wards as presented by Watson & Associates Economists Ltd.
Final Option 2 employs a similar design to Final Option 1 in the southern portions of the municipality. Wards 1 and 2 contain much of the older and developing portions of Alliston, using the rail line and Victoria Road as dividing points. Ward 3 includes western portions of Alliston, along with rural portions of the community, south to the 11th Line. Ward 4 extends from the western municipal boundary towards County Road 10, taking in much of the Treetops and Briar Hill communities. The 4th and 7th Lines are used as boundaries for Wards 5, 6, and 7. One amendment made was the northern boundary for Ward 5 is extended north to the 10th Line.
This configuration provides for good population parity both now and in the future. Using 2025 population data, all wards are within the acceptable range of population variation. Ward 6 is in the optimal range. All wards are within relative distance to the average, without a high degree of variation. Some of this parity loosens towards 2036. Again, all wards are forecast to be within the acceptable range of variation, but Wards 4 and 5 come very close to the upper boundary of the range, while Ward 3 comes closer to the lower end. This creates a disparity of 3,779 residents. Two wards (Wards 2 and 6) are within the optimal range in 2036.
One significant aspect of the entire exercise is the fate of the Deputy Mayor position. An initial motion as part of broader amendments failed to remove the seat. But current Deputy Mayor Stephanie MacLellan, said she's in favour of its elimination, which would reduce council to eight members including the Mayor. Councillors took a break to deal with confusion on amendments and motions, and when reassembled, a vote to defer the matter passed waiting on the outcome of Simcoe County's bid to reduce its 32 members to 16, plus an appointed Warden. If County council does drop to 16, it would be the mayors serving at the upper tier, lessening the need for a Deputy Mayor at the local level.
Because the vote last night was in committee, it will have to be ratified at by council at the June 16 meeting.
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