Durham expected to remain intact following Peel dissolution decision

DAN CEARNS, The Standard

DURHAM: Durham Regional Chair John Henry assures residents of the Region’s strength following the province’s recent decision to dissolve Peel Region in 2025.

In a statement released on Thursday, May 18th, Chair Henry said he doesn’t expect to see a change to the makeup of Durham’s Regional Council.

“Despite the recent provincial announcement about changes to the structure of the Region of Peel, there have been no concerns raised about the size or structure of The Regional Municipality of Durham. Our Region, and the eight local municipalities, have a productive and strong track record of working together to serve our residents. Together, we provide the backbone of service delivery in a two-tier structure that ensures services are planned, funded and delivered in a cost-effective manner; and on a large geographic scale. This cooperation and accountability allow us to avoid duplication of efforts. Together, we maintain Durham’s reputation as a community where equitable, high-quality services are available to everyone,” Chair Henry’s statement read.

Durham Region’s municipalities include Scugog, Uxbridge, Brock, Ajax, Clarington, Oshawa, Whitby and Pickering.

“Durham is about partnerships. Municipal representatives who work together to help preserve the strong connection we have to our hometowns. A place where we work to create clearly defined regional and local roles and, responsibilities, processes which strengthen governance and service delivery in our communities. We have all made continuous improvement part of our core business, and we will keep working together to address common challenges,” Chair Henry stated.

Chair Henry also pointed out this is not the first time the Ontario provincial government has discussed regional governments.

“In 2019, the province announced a Regional government review, a process which concluded a short time later. In November 2022, the topic came up again, this time during a provincial announcement about appointing a facilitator to review the efficiency of regional governments. Today’s announcement about Peel made reference to the facilitators once again, noting someone will work with each of the eight upper-tier levels of government. As Durham is an upper tier, we will likely be involved in this exercise.”