GREENSTONE — While Thunder Bay recently chose to keep the status quo for the size and makeup of its city council, another regional municipality will start to take a fresh look at theirs.
Greenstone council recently passed a motion directing its administration to plan to start gathering public feedback on council composition in 2026, after that year’s municipal election and its next council is sworn in. The direction, which was recommended by administration, calls for a report with options back to council in 2028, well before the 2030 municipal election.
“There is no mandatory responsibility to change the composition of council,” the staff report says. “However, periodic review to ensure local councils maintain a fair and effective system of representation … is recommended.”
Greenstone mayor Jamie McPherson said in an interview with Newswatch that he and his colleagues were watching how the debate unfolded in Thunder Bay, before city council ultimately voted not to change the size and composition of council nor the existing ward boundaries.
“The question is, what form of representation should we have? And what should the size of the total council be?” he said. “Those are questions that, as we learned watching and listening to Thunder Bay, that the community should have input into.”
Currently, Greenstone — which is an amalgamated municipality spread out over 2,700 square kilometres and consisting of numerous former autonomous towns and settlements — is represented by a mayor elected at-large and eight ward councillors.
Geraldton and Longlac have two councillors each, with one councillor each for Beardmore and Nakina. There is also one councillor each representing rural areas on the eastern and western halves of Greenstone. That system has been in place since 2009, according to the staff report.
Some on council said they would like to see that number shrink.
“At this point, I'm not concerned about moving boundaries … I just would like to reduce our council by two (members),” Longlac Coun. Elaine Mannisto said during Greenstone’s July 14 debate. “I don't think — and I think I said this before — I don't believe that we need two Geraldton councillors, (and) we don't need two Longlac councillors.”
“Our population is less than 5,000, and you figure out how many constituents each councillor would kind of be responsible for, if you want to put it that way, I just think it's too big for our population.”
Others on council raised the argument that reducing the number of seats around the table would save some money. Concerns about ward representation at city hall — either in the current form or if council were to be reduced in size — given the disparity in population numbers between Greenstone’s component communities were also discussed.
The staff report said, as of 2022, 40 per cent of the eligible and registered voting population lives in Geraldton alone, with another 27 per cent in Longlac.
One concern raised about reducing the size of council was it would mean more work for fewer people when it comes to sitting on other required boards and committees — and, in the case of younger councillors, also juggling a day job and home life. Mannisto’s fellow Longlac councillor Alan Ouellet said it can already be a tough balance.
“I can't shake the thought of the working council, as the municipality grows,” he said. “We are fortunate that we have members of council that are not in the work class or (who are) retired and then giving back to community, still, in their time.”
“I can tell you for myself, it's a delicate dance at times.”
McPherson said he agrees and that it could be a barrier to having more young people on council.
“A younger council means more people working and less of a pool to draw from for all the committees (councillors sit on),” he said in an interview, adding that, because of how spread out Greenstone is geographically, they are largely required to sit on more committees than other communities of a similar population size.
“We have three housing boards, whereas most communities may have none or one,” he said. “We are part of many other groups and we have more than one group in the municipality.”
While some concern was raised during the council debate about how much work the consultation and reporting back process will be for municipal staff, council ultimately passed the resolution directing staff to consult with the community and report back in 2028 with options.
“This option allows for sufficient time for a thorough public consultation process so council can understand how the electorate would like to be represented,” the staff report said.
