Opinion

KITCHENER — Waterloo Region’s chair appointment removes a choice residents previously made for themselves. The question is not whether Scott Davey can do the job. It is why Queen’s Park should choose the person exercising expanded power over regional services and budgets.

Ontario named Davey as Regional Chair on November 10, replacing Karen Redman. The provincial backgrounder describes a Kitchener councillor in office since 2010, with experience in finance and technology and as chair of the City’s finance and corporate services committee.

That experience deserves consideration. It does not substitute for a regional mandate. Voters from Cambridge and the townships did not choose Kitchener’s Ward 1 councillor to lead the Region.

A choice residents used to make

Redman was elected chair in 2018 and won again in 2022. The Region’s official 2022 results record 68,084 votes for her, or 72.3 per cent of votes cast in the chair contest.

Those numbers do not establish that every resident supported her. They establish something more basic: voters could select a chair, compare candidates and replace the incumbent. The Region’s 2026 election information confirms that the chair’s position did not appear on this year’s ballot after the legislation changed.

Residents still elect mayors and Regional councillors. Those representatives retain important duties. But continuing to elect other members is not the same as retaining a direct vote for the head of council.

What the new budget powers mean

From November 15, Ontario’s strong-head-of-council framework applies to these upper-tier municipalities, giving the head of council greater authority over the budget and some senior staffing decisions. Those powers are significant, but they do not abolish council or make every decision the chair’s alone.

Certain by-laws tied to prescribed provincial priorities can pass with support from more than one-third of all council members. The budget follows a separate process, including council amendments, a chair’s veto and a council override requiring two-thirds of all members. The minority-support rule is not a general power to pass any by-law. Under the transition regulation, the first post-election budget for 2027 may be proposed only in 2027.

The appointment legislation also gives the minister authority to remove and replace a head of council. That is a different accountability relationship from being chosen by local voters or their elected councillors.

A chair can therefore retain substantial influence even when an ordinary majority of councillors wants a different budget outcome. That makes the record of proposed amendments, vetoes and override votes especially important. Residents should not have to decipher a governance statute to discover who supported a service cut or rejected a spending change.

Affordability requires precise numbers

The approved 2026 budget announcement reported a 5.10 per cent increase for total Regional services, including police, or $142 for an average household. Excluding police, it reported 4.54 per cent, or $88.

Those percentages have different bases; subtracting them does not calculate policing’s contribution. They also do not describe the increase to every household’s entire local, Regional, education and utility bill.

Affordability involves service decisions as well as tax rates. The same announcement identified $12.5 million in savings for 2026 and changes including monthly rather than biweekly bulky-item collection and GRT route adjustments. Budgeted savings should be tested against what actually happens, including the consequences for people using the services.

Ontario’s 2025 disclosure lists $196,657.41 in salary for Redman as Regional Chair. It is a historical amount paid, not confirmation of Davey’s pay. The province says municipalities determine compensation and that an appointee who also holds a lower-tier office has combined compensation capped at the higher of the two salaries.

The public should see how decisions are made

The province says its appointments are intended to improve efficiency and advance housing and infrastructure priorities. Davey should have the opportunity to show what he can deliver. Scrutiny of the appointment system is not a prediction that he will fail.

It is a demand for a clear line of responsibility. The chair’s proposals should identify the costs, service consequences and financing choices. Council amendments and chair decisions should be easy to find, and claims of savings should be followed by results.

Queen’s Park took away Waterloo Region’s direct chair vote while expanding the office’s authority. It owes Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and township taxpayers a convincing explanation of why that serves them better. A promise of efficiency, by itself, is not enough.

Feature image: AI-generated conceptual illustration, not a photograph of an actual council chamber, person or event.