Wilmot Ward 3 and 4 candidates divided over industrial development, tax increases at all-candidates meeting

By Galen Simmons

Candidates vying for seats in Wards 3 and 4 on Wilmot Township council shared their positions on two of the municipality’s most contentious issues during a Sept. 28 all-candidates meeting at the New Hamburg Community Centre.

Hosted by the Wilmot Civic Action Network in partnership with several community organizations, the meeting provided candidates an opportunity to answer questions on topics ranging from groundwater protection and farmland preservation to property taxes, municipal planning and government transparency.

Ward 3 candidates Harvir Sidhu and Kevin Sundberg participated, while Tammy Gaudun Gies was unable to attend. In Ward 4, candidates Jeff Bell, Sam Hiemstra, Steven Martin and Krista Straus participated, while Scott Dunstall declined the invitation.

Among the most revealing exchanges were those focused on whether Wilmot should formally declare itself an unwilling host to the proposed 770-acre industrial development along Bleams Road, and how candidates would approach future property tax increases.

The following are excerpts from candidates' responses to those two questions, edited for clarity and length.

Would you put forward a motion within your first 100 days declaring Wilmot an unwilling host to the proposed 770-acre industrial development?

Harvir Sidhu (Ward 3): “Yes or no to what? Yes or no to economic development? Yes or no to a business? We don't know what could be coming there. So, saying blanketly, saying unwilling host, I don't think that's going to do any justice. We need to pivot and we need to advocate.

“What I would ask is why this site was picked. What's the criteria? The threshold and the bar needs to be set very high. Show me, was there any other opportunities? What is going to be the short-term, the long-term benefits to Wilmot? And show us the technical details.”

When asked whether he would introduce a motion demanding greater transparency from the region, Sidhu said:

“Absolutely. I would put forward a motion to say, ‘Show us the technical details. Show us what criteria you used and show us why other sites in and around this area were not picked and what is so special about this site.’ ”

Kevin Sundberg (Ward 3): “I would support a motion. I'm not sure if we'd actually get any answers. It's been two and a half years or so and the information requests have fallen on deaf ears. I think this goes all the way up to the provincial level, so we'd have to start there.

“Everybody's known about this for a while and we've been left with no answers. So, sure, file a motion and see where it goes. But I think it's also going to fall on deaf ears.”

Asked what his motion would look like, Sundberg said he would question why the site was selected, including whether its proximity to power lines, rail transportation and Highway 401 influenced the decision.

Jeff Bell (Ward 4): “This is where I'm going to say it depends. It's a bit early for me to say whether or not I would put forward a motion for that.

“Much to what Harvir had mentioned, we really need to get some answers from the region, from the province on exactly why that site was chosen and make sure through our own staff and our own planning that we can support some type of industrial development there.

“The official plan doesn't approve a 770-acre mega site. It's basically saying that it is possible to be approved and it needs to go through all the proper scrutiny that any site would. So, I'm going to reserve my right to say it depends.”

Sam Hiemstra (Ward 4): “I believe that the MZOs that the province has been putting forward are undemocratic. I don't think that the province should be able to step in and make decisions on our planning without the consultation of the people that live here.

“So, to answer the question, is Wilmot a willing host? No, I don't believe we are. And I would be happy to, once learning how to put a motion forward, put this motion forward.

“This is something that I've been hearing at the doors. I've been hearing it for years over serving coffee at the bowling alley. This is something that I haven't really heard a good alternative argument on.”

Steven Martin (Ward 4): “I would have to say no to that in the sense that I already had the opportunity to put forth such a motion and I didn't do it. So, to say that I would do it in the next 100 days if I get elected would be dishonest.

“ … The reason I haven’t is because there can be pros or cons and, as Harvir has said, we don't know what is going in there. It all depends what goes in there.”

During a rebuttal, Martin added:

“Yes, the premier did say at a plowing match all you have to say is you're an unwilling host. But I don't believe him. I don't believe that just because we would say we're an unwilling host that the province would change their mind.”

Krista Straus (Ward 4): “I would definitely put this forward. We are an unwilling host. Doug Ford said that if we stand up and say that we are unwilling, he will just walk away.

“We need to stand up for ourselves because we have something special out here and the province still needs agriculture in Ontario. We have the high school that supports it. We have the prime agricultural land. We have generational farmers here and what we have is important to Ontario.”

What maximum annual property tax increase would you support, where would you cut spending by five per cent, and what municipal services would you refuse to cut?

Jeff Bell (Ward 4): “My goal would be to try and keep things in line with inflation if possible. As to what I would cut, if I had to reduce by five per cent, what would I cut first? Honestly, I would start looking not at any of our core services or discretionary services.

“Really looking at administrative growth, outside consultants, procurement, any software duplication, capital projects that are out there without any sound budgets attached to them. What are the things that are happening that we could generally get rid of before we start looking at the taxes or the services that are going to start affecting everyone's lives?”

Sam Hiemstra (Ward 4): “I don't know if I'm going to give a clear answer on something that I would cut. I don't think it's fair to the process of creating a budget. I think that the community needs to be consulted on what is being spent and what they need.

“There are going to be some difficult decisions to be made and I would be more than happy to take accountability for the decisions I make if elected as a councillor. But I think that the rate that we are going at right now with the increases is unattainable.”

Steven Martin (Ward 4): “I realize that I've been on council and have to take some responsibility here. What I've been saying to people at the door is in the last four years, taxes have gone up. And the reason I supported it (is) because when we look at the top line in the past 20 years, taxes didn't go up enough.

“Our mill rate was one of the lower ones in the province. Now we're more in the middle in terms of comparing our mill rate across the province.

“As far as services, what would be cut? That's what I asked people at the door. What services would you want to cut? I think there would need to be community consultation before cutting services.”

Krista Straus (Ward 4): “I would want our tax rate to be as close to inflation as possible. And as for what could we cut? Well, I know during COVID, we hired a bunch of staff. Maybe we need to look at, and I know there's some vacancies right now, is there a way we can merge some of those positions together?

“For municipal services that I would refuse to cut, definitely infrastructure. That's something that we should not cut at all. We need to make sure that none of our roads are crumbling.”

Harvir Sidhu (Ward 3): “Rough math, over the last two terms, our Wilmot portion has gone up almost 74 per cent. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like my services have gone up 74 per cent.

“I would aim at in and around inflation, predictable and manageable property tax increases. Yes, 20 years ago, property taxes weren't raised enough, but I believe there's been more than enough that we've raised over the last little while.

“While on council, I have voted against a property tax increase every year I've been there. I always thought the first place we should go look is not the residents to raise our property taxes and to make our budgets balance.”

Kevin Sundberg (Ward 3): “You can't really have a maximum amount. It depends on what happened in the fiscal year. I think we need to take a granular approach and look at where all of our spending is, as far as operation costs, and see if there's any places we could scale back.

“I know if you look at the previous budget, administration costs have gone up significantly. Maybe one area that we could reduce is utility costs, things like that where we can as a municipality cut back.

“What would I cut? I'm not sure. We'd have to reach out to the constituents and see what services they could do without.”