The divisions between cities and rural Ontario is now visible for all to see – and folks from the countryside foresee a real battle coming.
County councillors have called for a public meeting that asks all county residents, plus anyone else from rural Ontario, to discuss what they see as a war against them by urban areas and led by the provincial Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty.
That meeting is set for May 29 at 7pm at Aboyne Hall.
The issue was raised at the county’s economic development committee meeting on April 26, but there was plenty of chatter prior to the meeting about why the provincial government is seemingly oblivious to the havoc it is causing in rural areas.
The county’s new economic development committee offered a recommendation that council “support the County of Wellington in setting up a meeting with interested parties regarding the horse racing industry to discuss options and make suggestions to bring forward to the province of Ontario.”
But Warden Chris White was clear he hopes to hear from all rural constituents about their grievances for such things as wind turbines, the farm tax system, the cost of source water protection and other issues that seem to have rural people suffering in favour of the cities, under the aegis of the provincial government.
The Liberals lost four cabinet ministers in the last election, mainly from rural areas, and also lost its majority government.
Economic development committee chairman George Bridge said many in Wellington County work in the horse industry, and the latest Liberal budget could destroy them.
The government abruptly cancelled its agreement with the horse racing industry that has been worth over $1 billion to the province. Estimates are that it could cost up to 60,000 jobs in the equine industry while creating 2,500 gaming jobs in cities.
White said he has spoken with McGuinty and Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan and got nowhere. He has also been consulting with people in the horse industry.
“For us, this is a huge issue,” White said. Wellington County has the largest horse population per capita in Ontario.
White said he has received numerous emails from people concerned about their livelihoods. He said McGuinty appears to be adopting a strategy of divide and conquer.
“I think to some degree they’re going to pit municipality against municipality,” said White.
He has been unsuccessful in attracting interest from city politicians about the horse racing industry and the suddenly-changed OLG policy that threatens to take slots and casinos away from race tracks and move them into cities.
He said while Wellington County has received “great support” from Wellington- Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott, he does not see any one political group willing to stand up for the countryside. Most of the provincial legislature seats are in cities.
White said the purpose of the public meeting is to “reach out to rural Ontario and determine the impact the latest moves by the province will have.”
He added the hope now is “to slow this thing down” until people can determine the effects of the latest provincial edicts.
Councillor Joanne Ross-Zuj said all mayors in the municipalities with slots at racetracks have met with OLG officials and learned about moving gambling to more heavily populated areas. She said she can understand a business wanting to be closer to its customers, but this plan “goes one step further. It pits municipality against municipality.”
For example, Centre Wellington could lose its slots operation to Kitchener.
“It looks like we’ll be pitted against big cities,” she said. “Rural Ontario took all the risks of bringing gaming to Ontario.”
She called the proposal “an absolute betrayal” of the countryside. “The province begged us to cooperate” when it started slots at racetracks.
“Now, people’s livelihoods are at stake,” Ross-Zuj said.
She added this is not the first time the province has favoured cities to dump on rural areas. She cited the Green Energy Act by which the province removed municipal authority to approve wind turbines.
“It seems rural Ontario has been taking a lot from the province – and it’s got to stop,” she said.
White said when the Liberal government was having major problems during the election, it cancelled natural gas plants in cities to appease residents there.
“They’re closing gas plants in the cities but building turbines in rural Ontario,” White said.
Ross-Zuj added, “Rural Ontario needs help.”
White said, “It’s time for us to stand up. This one [the changes to the horse industry and slots] really crosses the line … It’s actually putting people out of work. People at the low end of the economic scale. You will find pockets of rural Ontario that are really going to be hurt by this … Why can’t they leave rural Ontario alone?”
White said the issue goes beyond just picking on a geographic area.
“This is our auto industry,” he said, referring to the bailout provided to an urban industry just a few years ago.
Other county officials have other grievances.
Councillor Lou Maieron said lower tier municipalities are getting very concerned about the province’s source water protection laws. They fear the cost of enforcing those laws is going to be huge and they will fall on rural Ontario.
“Rural areas are being asked to protect water that flows into lakes – for urban people,” Maieron said.
He added there is little support for building rural roads, but wondered “How many city people are going to drive to rural Ontario?”
There is also the issue of the way farms are taxed.
The problem is much of that land is not taxable by the municipality – leaving other township ratepayers to make up the shortfall. That issue goes back for years.
Up to 1998, owners of farmland paid taxes to the municipality and then, subject to meeting eligibility criteria, applied to the province for a rebate of 75% of those taxes. Assessment reform in 1998 transferred that funding responsibility to municipalities. The province set a 0.25 tax ratio on farmland – or 25% of the residential tax rate.
The lost tax revenue can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars – if not millions – for a rural municipality, and many ratepayers in those places are unaware of the extra taxes they are paying to make up the shortfall. Local politicians are, however, but their efforts to have the system changed have been in vain.
The same issue exists for managed forests, but that impact is much smaller. (In Mapleton, for example, farmland in 2011 provided $437,796 in property taxes under the current system. Under the previous system, it would have provided $1.75 million. Managed forests in 2011 paid $4,214, while under the old system the township would have collected $16,857.)
White said a mega-quarry is being proposed in Melancthon Township upstream of the Grand River and threatening several rivers and water supplies. The proposal was put under environmental assessment during the provincial election when it became an issue for the government.
Previous to that, Melancthon’s Mayor Bill Hill was told by then Minister of Natural Resources and Brampton Springdale MPP Linda Jeffrey that when the American developers are finished mining the largest quarry in Ontario, “You might get a nice golf course out of it.”
Bridge said those are reasons his committee passed the resolution. He added the “ripple effect” of the latest provincial move could really hurt.
Councillor Ray Tout supported Ross-Zuj and her remarks about the rural economy.
“We have to stand up and fight,” said Tout, who added most of the area north of Highway 401 is rural Ontario.
He concluded “If farmers are not spending, it affects us all.”
Council was unanimous in supporting the motion.
