*COMMUNICATIONS HELD ON FILE WITH THE REGIONAL CLERK .

RESOLVED THAT Council receive delegations representing the lower tier municipalities and members of public who want to speak on restructuring.

"LOST" Pursuant to subsection 1(2) of the procedure By-Law on a division of 10 Yeas to 7 Nays as follows:

WHEREAS Regional Council believes there is a strong public consensus to restructure municipal governments in Ottawa-Carleton.

AND WHEREAS Regional Council believes any fundamental change in our system of municipal government requires public consultation and debate.

AND WHEREAS Regional Council strongly supported the formation of the Citizen’s Panel on Municipal Restructuring.

AND WHEREAS Regional Council regrets the disbanding of the Citizen’s Panel.

AND WHEREAS Regional Council acknowledges that it must take a larger leadership role in the process of restructuring.

AND WHEREAS it is in the public interest to reduce the size of government, to simplify the municipal government structure, to reduce costs, improve accountability, efficiency and effectiveness.

AND WHEREAS Regional Council wishes to adopt a municipal government restructuring option for the purposes of consultation with the public.

NOW THEREFORE be it resolved that municipal restructuring shall be built upon the following guiding principles:

1. respect, preserve and enhance local communities and communities of interest and ensure community level decision-making on specified local matters;
1. create an accountable, streamlined government structure with fewer elected officials and a streamlined administration;
1. preserve the rural area and character;
1. maintain accessibility to municipal government and continue an appropriate community presence;
1. increase the financial viability and continuing prosperity of municipal government;
1. focus municipal spending on the delivery of service.
1. continue the policy adopted by the RMOC since 1973 of recognizing English and French as its official languages and of implementing this policy in the provision of quality services to the residents and clients of any new municipal governance structure, upon its constitution. In so doing, the new municipality will strive to be a model in this respect for Canada, given that its territory encompasses the capital of Canada, a country having English and French as its two official languages.
1. clarify, enhance and focus economic development as the foundation for maintaining and strengthening the social and cultural fabric of the restructured municipality.

1. The status quo, two-tier system, is not the most efficient model for the delivery of municipal services in Ottawa-Carleton.
1. The residents of Ottawa-Carleton will be well served and their tax dollars better spent if the existing municipalities are replaced with a unified city to be named the "City of Ottawa".
1. The Townships of Goulbourn, Osgoode, Rideau and West Carleton together may choose, on fair and equitable terms, to opt out of the unified city.
1. An independent expert will be retained to develop a ward system that will support a Council of up to 26 members plus 1 Head of Council.
1. The independent expert shall, in consultation with the public, develop ward boundaries that both reflect existing communities of interest and follow accepted principles for representation by population.
1. A unified city will ensure meaningful local input through a system of borough councils to be composed of three to five ward councilors with decision-making and advisory responsibilities on specified local matters.
1. One hydro commission will be created to serve the unified city.
1. To ensure fairness and equity, the debts, reserves and revenues of each existing municipality shall be taken into account in the creation of the unified city and where agreement cannot be reached, any municipality shall have recourse to an agreed upon binding dispute resolution process.
1. (a) In the event that the four rural municipalities choose to opt out of the unified city, there shall be an agreement for the purchase of services from the unified city at a fair and equitable cost and where agreement cannot be reached any municipality shall have recourse to an agreed upon binding dispute resolution process.

(b) A mechanism to address common planning issues shall be established.

1. The unified city will come into existence on January 1, 2001.
1. If a "triple majority" as presently defined has not been achieved by November 12 1998, the Provincial Government be requested to immediately appoint a commissioner to order municipal restructuring in Ottawa-Carleton.
1. Any triple majority will include principles of transition.

WHEREAS there are many advantages of a two-tier structure, in terms of allowing for local decision-making;

BE IT RESOLVED THAT, for consultation purposes, the following improvements be included in consultation documents and that public opinion on these points be solicited:

• Giving borough/community councils real decision-making power and independent budgets. Comprised of three or four councillors, having these councils have final say over local planning issues, regulatory by-laws and important community programs. Current regional government responsibilities – like subdivision approvals or local transportation issues – could also be assigned to these councils. These councils should have the power to levy local taxes so that, if people in, say, Orléans are prepared to pay more or want to pay less for neighbourhood services, they have the power through elected representatives to make that decision.

• Local municipal offices throughout the region where people can pay tax or water bills, register for community programs, meet elected representatives and obtain municipal services.

• One representative per 20,000 people to ensure adequate representation, recognizing the new councillors will have to do the work of both current upper- and lower-tier representatives. The current ratio of population to councillors in the urban municipalities of Ottawa-Carleton (excluding Rockliffe) is currently 20:000:1.

• Grandfathering of debt, which would be paid for by levying a "debt repayment tax" within the borders of former municipalities. This could include allowing heavier-debt municipalities like Ottawa or Kanata to keep their assessment (the local portion of it) until debt is paid off.

• Complete independent financial analysis to demonstrate taxpayer savings.

• A labour adjustment plan to deal fairly with municipal staff.

• If rural municipalities are not part of a new structure, they must nevertheless continue to contribute to the social costs of the Ottawa-Carleton region and be part of a joint land-use planning structure.

• There must be public participation before Council adopts a final position.

THAT Resolved #1 be replaced with the following:

THAT Regional Council believes that there is value in a two-tier system of local government, allowing for the best of efficient service delivery, economies of scale and community control; and that Council is prepared to work for a streamlined, more effective two-tier structure, but in the absence of a consensus or willingness by area municipalities to move in such a direction, Council will submit the ‘borough model’ to the public for consultation.

WHEREAS bill 9, as drafted, makes provision for approval of a local municipal restructuring proposal based on approval of the proposal by the Councils of the majority of the municipalities in the regional municipality, representing a majority of the population by Regional Council (herinafter a "triple majority");

AND WHEREAS subsequent to March 25, the Mayor of the City of Ottawa and the Regional Chair expressed public support for the creation of a single municipality;

AND WHEREAS the Mayor of the City of Ottawa and the Regional Chair have invited the four rural municipalities of Goulbourn, West Carleton, Rideau and Osgoode to indicate their desire to join the new single municipality or "opt out" of the new single municipality;

AND WHEREAS Bill 9 deems all eleven Ottawa-Carleton constituent municipalities, including Goulbourn, West Carleton, Rideau and Osgoode, along with the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, to be member municipalities for the purposes of reaching a triple majority;

BE IT RESOLVED prior to the commencement of formal negotiations on the restructuring of Ottawa-Carleton and, in any event, prior to the declaration that a triple majority exists, the four rural municipalities be required to declare by Council resolution whether they are "opting in" to a restructuring plan as it affects the remaining municipalities, or "opting out" to pursue an alternate governance structure;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT if a municipality "opts out", it shall not be counted towards the number of Councils and population required for a triple majority. If a municipality "opts in", it will count towards the number of Councils and population required for a triple majority.

RESOLVED THAT the sixth "WHEREAS" paragraph be modified by 1) replacing the words: " size of government " with the words: " number of municipal governments" and 2) adding the words: "where feasible" after the words: "to reduce costs".

RESOLVED THAT component N° 2 be replaced as follows: "The name ‘Ottawa-Carleton’ be replaced with a unified city to be named the ‘City of Ottawa - Ville d’Ottawa’".

RESOLVED THAT guiding principle N° 8 be separated by placing a period after the word: "development" and creating a ninth principle as follows:

RESOLVED THAT the question with respect to Motion No. 167 and the main Motion (No. 160) be now put.

"CARRIED" with Councillors Stewart, Hunter and Bellemare dissenting.

Motion No. 167 was then put to Council and "CARRIED" on a division of 14 Yeas to 4 Nays as follows:

NAYS: Councillors Stewart, Hume, Beamish and Holmes….4

MOTION NO. 160 WAS THEN PUT TO COUNCIL AND "CARRIED" WITH COUNCILLOR HUNTER DISSENTING.

WHEREAS Regional Council is facing an immediate annual shortfall of $51 million due to provincial downloading; and

WHEREAS any restructuring of local government in Ottawa-Carleton is dependent on the province passing legislation to enable it to happen; and

WHEREAS Queen’s Park has been slow to move forward on such legislation for our community and, in Hamilton-Wentworth, has twice refused to implement models that achieved triple-majority local support (a majority of local councils, representing a majority of the population plus the majority of Regional Council),

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer to work with partners to prepare a report on the ways in which it is possible to streamline services and increase efficiency, within the current system of local government; and

FURTHER THAT such a report include, but not be limited to:

• Merging services between the region and a municipality(ies) where there is mutual interest in doing so.
• Combining administrative services.
• Reorganizing regional government to increase efficiency
• Reorganizing political structures to improve accountability, where there is support to do so.
• Shared use of buildings and other infrastructure and the sale of surplus property; and

FURTHER THAT this report be available by Nov. 16, 1998.

"CARRIED" with Councillor van den Ham dissenting.

RESOLVED THAT the guiding principles be forwarded to Queen’s Park to be incorporated into Bill 9.

RESOLVED THAT by-law 43 of 1998 to confirm the proceedings of Council be enacted and passed.

CLERK CHAIR