Amalgamation

[Spokes]

Wait....if amalgamation happens and the name changes, do we need to change this site's name????

[Rainrider22]

Wait....if amalgamation happens and the name changes, do we need to change this site's name????

Think about this,  If all the regions in Ontario are forced to change their names through amalgamation, think about all the stationary, cheques and other printed media that will need to change their address names?   Can you name any politician who's family owns a printing company ?

[nms]

I guess in one amalgamation scenario, the Townships will end up paying for the LRT anyway (plus a whole lot more). Has anyone tracked the regions involved in the review and the political leanings of their MPPs? I would hope that there is multiparty representation. Have the other regions that are not part of this review undergone some form of recent reorganization that precludes being included in the review?

[jgsz]

Wait....if amalgamation happens and the name changes, do we need to change this site's name????

Think about this,  If all the regions in Ontario are forced to change their names through amalgamation, think about all the stationary, cheques and other printed media that will need to change their address names?   Can you name any politician who's family owns a printing company ?

Can you say ‘Deco Labels?’

[Spokes]

Wait....if amalgamation happens and the name changes, do we need to change this site's name????

Think about this,  If all the regions in Ontario are forced to change their names through amalgamation, think about all the stationary, cheques and other printed media that will need to change their address names?   Can you name any politician who's family owns a printing company ?

Want to start a business??

[timc]

Think about this,  If all the regions in Ontario are forced to change their names through amalgamation, think about all the stationary, cheques and other printed media that will need to change their address names?   Can you name any politician who's family owns a printing company ?

And with that in mind, would street names need to be de-duplicated as part of amalgamation? Waterloo and Kitchener went through that decades ago, but there is plenty of duplication with Cambridge, not to mention the townships.

[MidTowner]

… Ford wants the mayor of Brampton to lose his job.

And the fact that this is a believable motivation is an example of why Ford is not just a politician with whom I have some political disagreements, but an objectively bad premier and a nincompoop.

I'm not disagreeing with any of your conclusions, necessarily, but I should point out that I was saying that tongue-in-cheek.

[tomh009]

Think about this,  If all the regions in Ontario are forced to change their names through amalgamation, think about all the stationary, cheques and other printed media that will need to change their address names?   Can you name any politician who's family owns a printing company ?

And with that in mind, would street names need to be de-duplicated as part of amalgamation? Waterloo and Kitchener went through that decades ago, but there is plenty of duplication with Cambridge, not to mention the townships.

Yes. But it might not happen quickly -- certainly it did not in Toronto.

[MidTowner]

What would the savings even be then?  They're a pretty big geographic area already and IIRC only have like 3 or 4 wards each right?  

You'll just end up with a more bureaucratic system, with no real savings.

The argument would be that each of those townships have a CAO, each of whom (probably) are on the sunshine list, and each of whom (probably- I don't know) make almost as much as the CAO of Kitchener, who on paper handles a job that is many times larger and more complex.

[Rainrider22]

Think about this,  If all the regions in Ontario are forced to change their names through amalgamation, think about all the stationary, cheques and other printed media that will need to change their address names?   Can you name any politician who's family owns a printing company ?

And with that in mind, would street names need to be de-duplicated as part of amalgamation? Waterloo and Kitchener went through that decades ago, but there is plenty of duplication with Cambridge, not to mention the townships.

Any gained efficiencies will be lost through this Gong Show !!!

[panamaniac]

And with that in mind, would street names need to be de-duplicated as part of amalgamation? Waterloo and Kitchener went through that decades ago, but there is plenty of duplication with Cambridge, not to mention the townships.

Any gained efficiencies will be lost through this Gong Show !!!

Not sure what you mean.

[ijmorlan]

I guess in one amalgamation scenario, the Townships will end up paying for the LRT anyway (plus a whole lot more). Has anyone tracked the regions involved in the review and the political leanings of their MPPs? I would hope that there is multiparty representation.  Have the other regions that are not part of this review undergone some form of recent reorganization that precludes being included in the review?

LRT could still be area-rated. I understand that Hamilton transit is area-rated by ward, and it’s actually a problem because it makes it hard to extend transit into the affected wards.

[Rainrider22]

Any gained efficiencies will be lost through this Gong Show !!!

Not sure what you mean.

The Gong Show is the idea of changing what inst broken by Ford.  The small efficiencies that will be gained financially will be lost on  the amount of money that will be spent to change over forms, addresses, websites, street signs, Every emergency and operational plan... the follow out is huge. for what ?  This isn't just about Waterloo Region, this is 82 upper and lower tier municipalities.   You are talking about reprogramming addresses in emergency communications systems, reprogramming all the RMS systems at all levels, hospital, coding for payments, coding for OHIP, coding for birth certificates.....  This is not a small change for some savings of a few millions dollars....  the list and impacts will go on and on ....

[MidTowner]

Not sure what you mean.

The Gong Show is the idea of changing what inst broken by Ford.  The small efficiencies that will be gained financially will be lost on  the amount of money that will be spent to change over forms, addresses, websites, street signs, Every emergency and operational plan... the follow out is huge. for what ?  This isn't just about Waterloo Region, this is 82 upper and lower tier municipalities.   You are talking about reprogramming addresses in emergency communications systems, reprogramming all the RMS systems at all levels, hospital, coding for payments, coding for OHIP, coding for birth certificates.....  This is not a small change for some savings of a few millions dollars....  the list and impacts will go on and on ....

You can read myriad studies of the impacts of the extremely extensive municipal restructuring in the '90s, and see that, in at least some cases, efficiencies really were found.

Additionally, the costs you are talking about are one-time costs. The efficiencies, to the extent they can be realized, would be ongoing.

[panamaniac]

Colour me sceptical in general. Bigger bureaucracies tend to just be bigger, not necessarily cheaper or more efficient. One need only look at some of the Harper government's star-crossed initiatives to consolidate government functions to see how things can turn out in the real world.

That said, if the Region of Waterloo were to be made a single tier municipality, I think we'd muddle through without too many practical problems. How you'd deal with the K-W/Cambridge/rural "cultural" issues, I'm not sure. The experiences of Toronto and Ottawa suggest to me that that's the stuff of decades .....