Tillsonburg council calls for increased representationat Oxford County council

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tillsonburg is looking to increase its voice at Oxford County council.

Council members were presented with a report based on a request from the Economic Development Advisory Committee at the Nov. 14 meeting. The resolution from the committee requested that town council send a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Premier of Ontario, requesting that Tillsonburg have equitable representation on county council based on the number of people in the town.

Tillsonburg, Ingersoll, and the rural communities currently have one representative on Oxford County Council, while Woodstock has three. Tillsonburg’s population has increased substantially since that formulation was put in place.

Coun. Kelly Spencer said she talked to MPP Ernie Hardeman at an event, and he advised her that the letter should go to Oxford County Council. Mayor Deb Gilvesy, the town’s representative on county council, said this issue was being examined in 2020 and then was sidetracked when COVID hit. She suggested the Tillsonburg representative having two votes is another possibility.

Deputy Mayor Dave Beres said if the MPP suggested sending it to the county, then that might be the preferred route. He remembered that in 2020, former Oxford County Warden Larry Martin said this wasn’t something the county was interested in.

“The missing piece is to take this to Oxford County for review and see what they feel, rather than to go beyond them to the ministry which this resolution implies,” he said. “What I would like to see as a resolution is it forwarded to Oxford County and Oxford County can carry it forward.”

Coun. Chris Parker said this has been a lingering issue for Tillsonburg and it’s a stalemate at the county. He said the province will need to step in at some point.

“We have five rural votes and we have five urban votes; you’re not going to get a two-third majority either way and at some point it will have to go to the province anyways,” he said. “We have grown so much either a second representative or a second vote is needed. We don’t have proper representation.”

Coun. Bob Parsons agreed with Parker, adding, “The Oxford County Act established an equal urban versus rural mix. Looking at the numbers, 80,000 people live in the three urban centers compared to 42,000 in rural areas. Those numbers are going to continue to grow by every projection in terms of the growing urban centres in Oxford County.”

Coun. Pete Luciani also agreed, saying it needs to go to the county first.

Council discussed the logistics of how to move forward with this, but in the end, it decided to receive the committee's letter for recommendation and then start by sending a letter to Oxford County Council requesting equitable representation for the number of people in Tillsonburg.