Press Release, June 2007

A group of concerned citizens has organized an effort to circulate petitions among the residents of Harrow & Colchester South seeking citizen approval to de-amalgamate and separate from the present Town of Essex.

Our goals include returning control of our local government to local citizens and to put a stop to thoughts of spending our tax dollars on a new arena.

Volunteers to help with petitions and canvassing will be welcomed.

In 1999, the former municipalities of Harrow, Colchester South, Colchester North & the old Town of Essex were, without local citizen approval, amalgamated into a single governmental unit. This forced amalgamation process was instituted on many provincial municipalities by the Harris Government’s “Common Sense Revolution”.

In most cases, this amalgamation is not working…!! It has proven to be disastrous, ….in more ways than one

Provincially, some 177 smaller, local governing units were “amalgamated” into 24 regional amalgamations. Currently, 17 of those forced amalgamations are going through various stages of attempting to “De-amalgamate”, to return to their previous form of local government.

The basic reasons for the lack of acceptance by the public to these forced amalgamations and the fundamental cause of the ensuing public outcry is that the local citizenry in these involved communities did not have a voice in making the decision.

The unfortunate belief by the Provincial Government that these forced amalgamations would be easily and widely accepted has been a colossal misjudgment on the part of the senior bureaucrats in Toronto and Queen’s Park. Instead, it has proven to be a seriously flawed process that has resulted in escalating taxes, higher costs, anger, suspicion, feelings of betrayal, loss of local control, unrest and deep divisions within these communities.

Examples are all around us in Southern Ontario as evidenced by formation of similar groups such as ours in: Chatham-Kent, London area –Alsa Craig, Flamborough, Glanworth and others in the Hamilton Region, Kawartha Lakes, Fenelon Falls, Lindsay; Orleans, Gloucester and others in the Ottawa-Carleton Region, ….the list goes on.

Then there’s the Ontario De-amalgamation Network (ODN), Voices of Central Ontario (VOCO), and the newly formed Ontario Landowners Association (OLA).

For us, amalgamation has produced a dysfunctional government. Contrary to earlier promises, taxes and costs have been increasing, better, more efficient service delivery hasn’t happened, less bureaucracy and streamlined government are unrealistic pipe-dreams..!!