Two Borders is looking to change its ward system from three to five wards, but drop the number of councillors from nine to five, as well as the reeve. With the exception of one ward around Pierson, the redrawn ones would stretch north to south over the municipality, which comprises the old RMs of Arthur, Albert and Edward. The present wards reflect these old boundaries.
Reeve Sandra Clark said they have been working on this for the last couple of years. The idea is to better represent populations. The Municipal Act states that wards must be made up of approximately the same number of residents.
“It’s within 10% of population,” Clark said. “We just want to be close to that representation.”
When the vote was taken on the first readings of the by-law, it passed 7-3. Clark said not all votes are unanimous, and that the disagreements are a healthy part of democracy.
One of the councillors who voted against was Don Wickham. Representing Ward 2 in the present system, he said he is predominantly concerned about representation.
“With this new ward system, the old Arthur and Albert municipalities, they might not have anyone representing them,” Wickham explained. “I always ask people when they first look at the new map, what do they think?”
The new wards stretch far north of the US border where Two Borders begins, he said. One end of the ward is completely different from the other.
“I wouldn’t know 10% of them up north. The population is more to the south in all of them. I don’t know them up north, and you can’t tell me guys up north know what they need in Waskada. There’s 36 miles there.”
Although there are population differences, Wickham feels they are not that important. Two Borders is not an urban centre, so that issue is not so acute. He said there are other ways to go about it, such as basing wards on assessment, or just making minor changes to the borders. He follows the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” rule.
Wickham also was concerned about notice to the public. He said he has heard from many ratepayers who only saw the maps when they came with their tax bills. As well, this is harvest season, a tough time for people to pay attention to these details. The veteran councillor, who has spent 16-17 years serving his community, including many on councils prior to the 2015 amalgamation, said this is the least logical change he has ever seen.
“If this isn’t going to happen until the election of 2026, why do it right now, during harvest?” Wickham asked. “My big thing is representation for the whole municipality, not centralization.”
He is also concerned they might have trouble getting people to run in future council elections.
Clark said they would hold the public meeting on October 16 and see what the public thinks. They will move forward from there, possibly with third reading.
“I hope we have a good crowd,” she stated.
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff