Municipality of Thames Centre turns 25 this year

By Nancy Abra

On Jan. 1, 2001, West Nissouri Township and North Dorchester Township merged to form the Municipality of Thames Centre, making 2026 its 25th anniversary.

This amalgamation was part of an Ontario-wide municipal restructuring plan under Mike Harris’ Progressive Conservative government. The claim was small, rural municipalities were too administratively expensive, duplicated services, lacked tax base for infrastructure and were inefficient compared to larger municipalities. The province’s restructuring, which took place from 1998-2001, affected hundreds of municipalities across Ontario, reducing the number from 850 to 445. Middlesex County went from 21 municipalities to seven during that time.

There was significant pushback in many Middlesex municipalities with some councils arguing they were already efficient, amalgamation would not save money, their rural identity would be lost and local representation would shrink. The province’s key point in their restructuring plan was amalgamation was not primarily about local efficiency. It was about enabling the province to offload responsibilities without raising taxes and it had the authority to override any objections.

The townships of West Nissouri and North Dorchester were geographically adjacent and shared similar rural character, similar service levels and they had similar populations. The province viewed them as a “natural pairing.”

West Nissouri and North Dorchester began their joint reorganization in earnest. They met in alternate townships with meetings chaired by Reeves Crispin Colvin (West Nissouri) and Al Marr (North Dorchester). When deciding on a name for the new municipality, there were many suggestions, but the final unanimous decision was that since the Thames River runs through both municipalities, we would be known as Thames Centre. There was very little backlash about the new municipality’s name.

“One of the largest concerns,” Al Marr recalled, “was the manageability of a municipality reaching from St. Marys to Elgin County especially over roads with concern for the more rural areas of both municipalities and historical snow amounts. With the rich history of West Nissouri and North Dorchester, there will always be areas of concern, but given the way this has worked out, I believe Thames Centre will meet all future challenges.”