Councillors here are supporting the Morriston Bypass Coalition with a $6,000 contribution.
The money will be used to pay for services of Hill and Knowlton Strategies’ advocacy campaign.
The June 18 discussion came as a result of earlier discussions following a financial request by Maple Leaf Foods for the township to support the coalition and its campaign.
The proposed Morriston bypass has been on the books since 1979 and considerable work has been done to move the project forward, including engineering studies on the proposed route and a related Ministry of Transportation Environmental Assessment (EA) which was approved in 2009.
In 2013, the Township of Puslinch engaged the University of Waterloo to investigate the economic impacts of the current traffic levels on the segment of Highway 6 from Freelton to Guelph and compare it with the economic impacts of the proposed Morriston bypass.
In 2013, Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott tabled a resolution in the Ontario Legislature asking the government to prioritize the Highway 6 Morriston bypass project and place it on the province’s five-year program for highway construction in Southern Ontario.
The original motion before council was that the township would support the advocacy campaign in a financial payment to Hill and Knowlton Strategies.
Funding from the township would come under the definition of contract services.
Mayor Dennis Lever said the item had arisen at council before, and he noted the City of Hamilton had agreed to contribute $4,000 to the cause.
Councillor Wayne Stokley agreed the township should support this but suggested a figure of a little over $5,000, “possibly $5,000 or $6,000 since it is going through our township and this would acknowledge it is very important to us.”
Councillor Susan Fielding supported the larger donation as well.
She said residents would like the township to be integrally involved in this “because we are suffering and will benefit from this in the end.”
Councillor Ken Roth endorsed support of a financial donation, “the amount I’m not sure of.” He asked whether the township could utilize grant money from Wellington County since the intent of that money was to promote economic development.
Mayor Lever said there is a long list of rules as to how that money can be used.
Roth also said he was quite happy with the idea of limiting the support to $4,000.
He suggested that basing the donation per capita – a $4,000 donation based on the Puslinch number of residents is greater than $4,000 from the population of Hamilton.
He added that Puslinch spearheaded the economic impact study. “It might not have been a monetary donation, but the study was a big part of the push in this process.”
He added that even if the township makes a contribution, the township may not have any say in the actions of this group – because it is a separate entity.
Mayor Lever explained the coalition is being led by McAlpine, but that leadership is based on advice he is getting from Hill and Knowlton Strategies.
Lever stressed “any communication from the coalition will be coming from (Hill and Knowlton Strategies). We will not be involved in sending out any information on behalf of the coalition. They will be speaking through Hill and Knowlton.”
Councillor Jerry Schmidt said “I think it is imperative council be a major contributor to this effort.”
As such, he wanted the contribution to be no less than $5,000 “and I would prefer it to be $6,000.”
Fielding said that when the township makes its donation, it should include a request for representation at the table.
Lever said once the donation is approved, he would contact those involved.
“The problem is that (Hill and Knowlton) are directing the communications and they will decide when everything becomes public.”
As such, “if they send correspondence to our council, by its nature, it becomes public … and they are not ready to go public with some of the things they are doing.”
Lever said it is important to consider how these communications are dealt with.
“We cannot redistribute it until (the consultants) are ready to release it. Hill and Knowlton are professionals and that’s why they’ve been hired.”
Stokley understood that certain information “should be kept close to the chest until they want to get it out.”
At the same time, he felt the township needed representation as part of the coalition.
“Once we’ve given our consent and our monies, we also would like to have representation and we can talk as council as to who that person would be.”
Lever said it is at the table already since he had been assisting the group in various aspects “as I have indicated before.”
“But some of the information coming to me is not for public dissemination, not until (the consultants) are ready to release it.”
Fielding asked “Don’t you think council should be a part of this?”
Lever said if information comes to council as a whole it generally becomes part of the public record.
CAO Karen Landry said information coming to council is deemed as public information unless there are exceptions which allow it not to be deemed as such. She used the example of specific sections of the Freedom of Information legislation which may potentially apply.
But without knowing the content, it would be hard to know, she added.
Lever added it is pointless to pay this professional to put this package together (including how the information is disseminated) and then bypassing that process.
Fielding asked how councillors and staff from Hamilton were acting under this restriction.
She understood it had already gone through the city’s legal department.
Lever suggested having the consultant speak with the CAO as well “to make sure this rolls out as they want it.”
Stokley asked for clarification as to whether Lever was currently a member of the coalition.
While Lever was getting information from the group, nothing was official since the township had not made a contribution up to that point.
“I’ve provided any assistance they’ve asked me for. I’ve been supportive in any way I can as I imagine all of council would want me to be. I wouldn’t want to put up any roadblocks.”
But as for being a partner in the coalition, “we are not a partner until we officially agree to participate.”
Lever noted there are others who wish to be part of the coalition who are not making financial contributions – “the city of Guelph is one of those.”
Stokley then asked if there would be a discussion as to the number of Puslinch councillors who could be involved in this.
Lever said that while he would continue to be involved, he saw no reason against additional representation.
Fielding asked for clarification whether the township was currently a member of the coalition.
Lever said “I’ve been a part of this group since the beginning in the discussions with McAlpine. I helped him put together the first meeting and wrote to individuals advising them of the meeting.”
Fielding said other documents indicated Puslinch was a confirmed member of the coalition.
“A confirmed support member of the coalition,” Lever said.
“Did we give them support?” she asked.
“I gave them support.” Lever responded.
“Without council’s permission?” Fielding asked.
“With council’s support. I explained I’d been a part of this since the beginning.”
At the time of that discussion, Fielding had declared a pecuniary interest (due to a potential land sale) and was in the public gallery.
Lever said he had provided all the support he could to the coalition.
“Would you have wished I hadn’t supported them?” Lever asked Fielding.
“I wish you had consulted council to ask permission,” she said.
“I don’t ask for council’s permission to do things which come under my job description as the mayor,” Lever said.
He then asked council to return to the original discussion which was the amount of support it wished to give the coalition.
Stokley noted that both Maple Leaf and Tim Hortons had agreed to provide $5,000 in support.
The mayor reminded Stokley that both companies are multi-billion dollar operations.
“I don’t think increasing the amount will bring you the recognition you think it will.”
Council agreed to support the coalition in the amount of $6,000.
