‘Funeral’ held for democracy in the wake of amalgamation |
The following is the third in a four-part series taking a look back at the amalgamation of Victoria County into the City of Kawartha Lakes 25 years ago.
As soon as Harry’s intentions became clear, a well-organized opposition coalesced, backed by elected officials of some of the municipalities and many others who played a prominent role in local affairs.
Amalgamation was more popular in Lindsay and vehemently opposed in some of the surrounding communities.
“It was so anti-democratic to dictate that we would no longer have town councils,” explained Anne Panter who, along with husband John, was instrumental in the creation of the Voices of Central Ontario (VOCO). “The existing villages had been working well. Sturgeon Point didn’t even have to pay their councillors. All the councils consisted of people who were really engaged, they were doing it for their communities. The local councils were really important to day-to-day life.
“For the province to come in and decide to get rid of all those volunteers was deeply offensive to a lot of people.”
Former Fenelon Township Reeve Faye McGee noted residents didn’t shy away from voicing their concerns. Council meetings saw between 10 and 70 people in attendance, while public meetings often attracted 300 to 400 people. Many of the advertisements included a coffin for democracy, implying the death of democracy that came with amalgamation. VOCO began holding its own unofficial referendums.
John Panter and Lynne Bildt were more than happy to bring the ‘death of democracy’ to Queen’s Park in response to what they saw as a forced amalgamation.
After much lobbying, Chris Hodgson — then the minister of municipal affairs,........