120 Years of Area Government

On January 24, 1853 in the Guelph Court House, Benjamin Thurtell, Warden of the United Counties of Wellington and Grey, announced that “the Provisional County of Waterloo had been set apart on the 22nd inst. from the United Counties.” Fifteen miles west of Guelph the same day, the new County of Waterloo was launched in the just-completed County Court House in Berlin, Warden Dr. John Scott presiding over the first session.


“...As the Increase of Wealth and Population May Require”
[12 Vic. Cap.78. 1849]

The Baldwin Municipal Act of 1849 enabled the creation of “temporary Unions of Counties” such as the United Counties of Wellington, Waterloo and Grey. The Act provided for their eventual division into smaller, more locally accountable, administrative and judicial county units with “increase of wealth and population.” The county features enabled by the Baldwin Act and detailed in the Hincks Act of 1852 would remain essentially unchanged for over one hundred and twenty years — until the introduction of Regional Government in 1973.

The four upper townships of the new County of Waterloo (the Townships of Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich) had emerged from the twenty-two townships of the former District of Wellington to which they had belonged from the establishment of the District in 1838. The District had stretched from Waterloo Township to Georgian Bay, with Guelph as its district town.

After the passage of the Baldwin Municipal Act in 1849, the District of Wellington had a temporary existence where it was known as the County of Waterloo, then as the United Counties of Wellington, Waterloo and Grey. In 1853, the four upper Townships of Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich were joined to the Township of North Dumfries, which had been created from the six northern concessions of Dumfries Township in the County of Brant, thus shaping the familiar outline of the County of Waterloo. The five townships and the villages of Galt and Preston were the seven incorporated municipalities that were represented at the first Waterloo County Council.


“A New and Independent County”

In the year before Warden Thurtell’s announcement in Guelph, the Provisional Waterloo County Council met in the Waterloo Township Hall in Berlin, near the geographical centre of the new County. At its inaugural meeting on the third of May, 1852, the Provisional Warden, Dr. John Scott, addressed the assembled councillors. He spoke enthusiastically of the realization of their “long cherished desires of being a new and independent county” and of the county’s superb potential, its “possession of such a vast supply of water power, the general fertility of the soil, the extensive amount of pine timber, a healthy climate, and industrious and enterprising population, now numbering according to the late census over 26,000, excellent roads and good markets.”

Waterloo County would have authority for coordinating areas of common interest shared by the townships and villages. Fundamental roles such as taxation, the creation of major thoroughfares and bridges, the administration of justice and the development of schools were the first to be assumed by County Council.


“...the Emblem of a Lyon laying down with a Lamb...”

Corporate seal, design used from 1853 to 1873

The first by-law passed during the transitional year of 1852, authorized a “corporate or common seal,” depicting a lamb and a lion, symbols of peace and prosperity, aptly symbolizing as well the aspirations of the immigrants who had settled in the lands along the Grand River during the previous fifty years.

The following year, By-Law No. 1 of the new County again authorized the corporate seal. The design of the seal was amplified in 1873, repositioning the lion and lamb and adding some landscape details. Later the County motto, “Peace and Prosperity”, along with a crown and flanking wreaths of maple leaves were added to the emblem. In 1993, the coat of arms was redesigned with the assistance of the Canadian Heraldic Authority, incorporating the original symbols of the lion, the lamb, the crown and the County motto, together with seven trilliums representing the seven area municipalities of the Region of Waterloo.


“...That So Soon as the Court House and Gaol ... Shall Have Been Erected and Completed at the County Town...”
[1849]

Court House, Berlin, 1853

Court Houses, Gaols and Council meeting places provided the physical framework for the legislative and judicial business of the County. They were in fact legislative requirements of the Government of Upper Canada. By-law No. 2 passed by the Provisional Waterloo County Council accordingly provided for “the erection of a Court House and Gaol in and for the County of Waterloo.” Once these structures were created, the County could be both a legal entity and a reality.

The Provisional County Building Committee recommended on May 31, 1852 that “the lot of land belonging to Frederick Gaukel, being Lot No. 8 containing two and a half acres of land, be the same more or less, and bounded by Queen Street, Weber Street, and Frederick Street, be adopted as the site of the county buildings....” An amendment to Council’s report noted that “Mr. Gaukel assisted by the inhabitants of Berlin do present this County with a free deed of the property mentioned in said Report as a token of their gratitude to the County in getting Berlin appointed the County Town.” Behind this gift of property was the somewhat contentious struggle between the citizens of Galt and Berlin to choose the county town. Those who supported the choice of Galt had expected that their village, much larger than Berlin, would be the logical choice.

Despite petitions to delay construction of the county buildings, a deadline of December 1852 was set and architects Mellish and Russell of Brantford were chosen for the project. The cost was tendered at £4875 (approximately $20,000), and the project was financed by the issuing of the County’s first debentures. On June 29, 1852, before a large and festive gathering, the cornerstone for the Waterloo County buildings was laid, followed by a banquet at the nearby Waterloo Township Hall to celebrate the occasion. By late 1852, building delays were developing and Warden Scott was urged to hasten the project. He headed a last minute committee to “procure all necessary furniture, and stoves, stove-pipes and firewood for the Court House and Gaol.”

On January 15, 1853, the Building Committee was pleased to report “that the County Buildings are now finished as far as they can now be properly done to the satisfaction of your Committee.” One week later, on January 22, 1853, the County was officially proclaimed. Other finishing details would be added during the year, but now the County could justify its claim for legislative recognition. On February 8, the dedication of the Court House building took place.

The completed Court House building facing Weber Street was a rectangular two-storey Italianate brick structure with flanking wings, stone lintels, high arched windows, a “lofty and spacious” Court Room and a domed cupola. (The cupola was removed in 1928.) The stone and brick walls of the Gaol behind the Court House expressed a more solid version of the Court House style. Civic buildings in the Italianate style were popular in mid-nineteenth century Ontario. Indeed, the Huron County Court House, built by Mellish in Goderich five years later was virtually identical in its external design to the Waterloo County Court House. Even Berlin Central School (present-day Suddaby School), built by the County in 1854, bore a very strong resemblance to the Court House.

For over one hundred years, the Court House was the seat of justice and of county government. As a focus for community life, the Court House also was the scene of meetings of the local Mechanics’ Institute, the Friedenfest celebration of 1871, Queen’s Birthday celebrations, public lectures, musical recitals and dramatic presentations. The grounds were the rather improbable site of Berlin’s first circus in 1855. The character of nineteenth-century Berlin, as yet a small, essentially rural town, was evoked by a recommendation of the County Property Committee in 1876 that landscaping of the grounds with ornamental trees be provided and that “in future the said grounds be not used for pasturage.”

Other improvements and modernizations followed—including in 1898, three coats of red paint for the outside of the Court House. A Registry Office adjacent to the Court House was built by the County at the corner of Weber and Frederick Streets in 1864. A second Registry Office was built on Frederick Street in 1938. In 1878, a decision was made to build a Governor’s residence adjoining the gaol. In 1893, a building to house Judges’ Chambers was constructed beside the Court House. The original Court House survived until 1964, when it was demolished along with the Judges’ Chambers and the original Weber Street Registry Office.


“Minutes of the First Session”
[1853]

The first County Councillors presenting their certificates of appointment were the twelve Reeves and Deputy Reeves from the seven County municipalities. John Scott, Reeve of the Township of Waterloo, was chosen to be Warden of the Municipal Council of the County of Waterloo. As the population of the County grew, so did representation on County Council. By 1895 there were thirty one councillors representing thirteen municipalities. With the County Council Act of 1896, direct election of County Councillors was instituted. For County Council purposes, the County was divided into seven electoral districts and the number of Councillors was reduced to fourteen. This system was short-lived, however, and was discontinued in 1906, when Reeves and Deputy-Reeves were returned to Council.


“Thrifty, Industrious and Peaceable”
[1904]

A member of County Council was chosen annually to serve as Warden, the head of Council. During the one hundred and twenty years of County government, one hundred and twelve men served as County Warden. Although the Warden was officially elected by his peers, Waterloo County developed a tradition of rotating the position among the municipalities. Meetings of Council and committees of Council took place usually four to six times a year, each session lasting several days. In the later years of County government, Council met monthly.

Waterloo County Council, 1889

Over the years, the number of municipalities represented on Council grew, as the villages and towns of Berlin, Waterloo, Hespeler, New Hamburg, Ayr, Elmira and later Bridgeport took their places on County Council. When the towns of Berlin, Galt and Waterloo became cities (in 1912, 1915 and 1947, respectively), they withdrew from County Council. Their partnerships in the affairs of the County continued, however, in the areas of suburban roads, the House of Industry, hospitals, the administration of justice, and from the 1960s onward, area planning.

The work of the County multiplied and diversified into the twentieth century. In 1853, the three Standing Committees of Council were Finance, Roads and Bridges, and Education. In 1963, Warden Curtis Roth observed that with ten Standing Committees and thirteen special committees, the responsibilities of Council were becoming “greater and greater.” The following year, Warden Gordon Gingrich suggested the possibility of a full-time Warden with a longer term of office and a salary comparable to its responsibilities.


“...and the Clerk Shall Duly Record in a Book...”
[1849]

Israel Bowman, Waterloo County Clerk from 1861 to 1896

The office of Clerk was key to the smooth administration of County government. During the one hundred and twenty years of Waterloo County government, six Clerks served long tenures as the executive officer of Council. These were William Davidson (1853-1861), Israel D. Bowman (1861-1896), his son Herbert Bowman (1896-1916), Samuel Cassel (1916-1942), Charles A. Stager (1942-1965) and John Barclay (1965-1972). Samuel Cassel and Charles A. Stager both had been elected officials and served as Wardens before they became Clerks, Cassel in 1913 and Stager in 1942. Often the Clerk performed the dual roles of Clerk-Treasurer, and others including Superintendent of Roads, Inspector of the House of Industry and Refuge, and Superintendent of Schools.

When Regional Government was created in 1973, the role of record- keeping continued in the office of the Regional Clerk, whose duties, “to record truly in a book, without note or comment...”, are still essentially those described by the Baldwin Act of 1849. In addition to its secretariat role, the Clerk’s office is entrusted with preserving both the current and historical records of the Region including the preservation of the historical records of the former County of Waterloo.


“...Current and Necessary Expenses..”
[By-Law, No. 7. 1853]

County taxes were collected to pay for salaries of County officers such as the Warden, the Clerk, the Gaoler, Councillors, auditors, jurors and court constables, for printing expenses, grants to the Berlin and Galt Grammar Schools, administration of Common Schools, for contingencies such as materials for roads and bridges, and for special grants to local organizations. During the First World War, a War Tax and Patriotic Tax were levied. Over the years, the County levy was broadened to include a growing range of services, including the House of Industry and Refuge (built in 1869), hospitals, the County Health Unit (1963) and the County Library (1968).


“Good Judgment and Wise Financing”
[1945]

An annual by-law enabled the borrowing of money to cover yearly expenses before the receipt of taxes. Debentures were issued for capital projects such as the building of the County Court House, the House of Industry and Refuge, the Judge’s Chambers, the Governor’s House and the County’s portion of the Berlin and Waterloo Hospital. During the phase of railroad building, beginning in the 1860s, the County issued debentures to promote rail transportation. In 1944, the County retired its last debenture (for improvements to the House of Industry and Refuge), thus becoming free of debt for the first time since 1853. This position was remarkable, compared to the many municipalities that came out of the Depression of the 1930s heavily in debt, and the occasion was marked by a banquet at the Walper House.


“The Just and Equal Assessment of Property...”

Taxes for the County and the local municipalities were levied on the value of each property. Local assessors assessed properties and forwarded their figures to the County. In order to ensure that there was fairness between properties across the County, the County would equalize the assessments each year.

There were many years when the process was seen as being unfair, and the equalizations were challenged in local and County Courts of Revision. Some of the disputes were so severe that they brought about movements to secede from the County. In 1950, referendums to separate from the County were held in Elmira, Preston and Hespeler because of perceived inequities. Although the referendums were overwhelmingly in favour of separation, the impasse was avoided by timely compromise.

In the late 1950s, a complete County re-assessment was proposed and the process began in 1961. By 1964, a somewhat imperfect result was submitted, and the re-evaluation process continued. In 1965, the Joint Committee on Assessment and Reassessment recommended the creation of a Waterloo County Assessing Department and the appointment of a County Assessment Commissioner to apply Province-wide standards and to continue what was admittedly a “huge task.” In 1970, the Provincial government assumed the assessment function from the County.


“Every Treasurer...shall receive and safely keep all moneys...”
[1849]

The Municipal Act required the appointment of a Treasurer to “receive and safely keep all moneys belonging to the Corporation,” a responsibility that is still invested in the Treasurer of the Region of Waterloo. One of the first Treasurers of the County of Waterloo, Charles Stanton, also served as the County Inspector of Weights and Measures, a role that ensured financial integrity in the businesses and marketplaces of the County. In 1881 Israel Bowman, the County Clerk, assumed the role of Clerk-Treasurer, a dual function that continued until the end of County government in 1972. Each year detailed accounts were tabled, and the changing role of the County could be seen in the changing role of the Clerk- Treasurer.


The Administration of Justice

The primary responsibility for the administration of justice in Canada lies with the Provinces. In the past, the costs of the administration of justice were shared by the County and the Province, the “current and necessary expenses” by-law providing for the payment of jurors, sheriffs, jailers, court constables and other judiciary expenses. Other County by-laws provided for the construction of the County Gaol, the Governor’s residence and Judges’ Chambers. Although special by-laws regarding the apprehension of horse thieves reflected the concerns of the time, the County was primarily a unit of administration with no judicial authority. William Miller (1810-1891), a lawyer from Galt, was the first Judge of the Waterloo County Court. Appointed in 1853, he presided over Waterloo County courts into the late 1880s with “ability, integrity and fidelity.”

In 1969, all of the costs for the administration of justice were assumed by the Province, but the County Courts continued to sit in the Court House. In 1971, as the change to Regional Government was about to take place, most of the space in the new Court House, excepting the chambers of Regional Council, was leased to the Province of Ontario for judicial purposes.


“...They Are Endeavouring to Give Their Children the Best Education in their Power”
[1861]

In 1861, W. Smith, a Census-Taker in Wilmot Township described the progress of education within School Section No. 3, at a time when farmers were struggling to clear the land and apply the basics of agriculture, many of them still labouring under the burdens of illiteracy. “The youth, in this respect, “ Smith noted in regard to their education, “are certainly far in advance of their parents.”

Schools had existed from the days of early settlement, but with the School Act of 1841, they existed on a more systematized footing. The creation and administration of Grammar Schools (later called High Schools) and Common Schools (public and separate schools) was a responsibility of County Council in its early years.

In 1853, Warden Scott was authorized to purchase three and a half acres for a Grammar School on the present site of Suddaby School on Frederick Street in Kitchener, and in 1854, the Galt Grammar School (on the site of the present-day Galt Collegiate Institute) was established on the same footing. Grammar Schools and Common Schools were to be funded by legislative grants, County grants and local property taxes. By 1881, there were over ninety common schools in Waterloo County, including several separate schools and over twenty schools where instruction was provided in German.

County Council appointed local Superintendents of Common Schools and Trustees of the Berlin and Galt Grammar Schools. With the enactment of the Act to Improve the Common and Grammar Schools of the Province of Ontario in 1871, a County Inspector was appointed, as well as a County Board of Examiners for the examination and licensing of teachers. Thomas Pearce was the County’s first Inspector, serving for over forty years in the public and separate schools of Waterloo County. The County debentured on behalf of the Galt and Berlin High Schools and made grants to Model Schools (for teacher training) in Berlin and Galt after the Model Schools were established in the late 1870s.

From the late nineteenth century, years of school attendance increased, and the two County public high schools no longer met the needs of a growing population of students. “Fifth Book” Classes (equivalent to Grades Nine and Ten), Continuation Schools, or Lower Schools, were created to provide education beyond the “Senior Fourth” (Grade Eight) level. As the numbers of public schools, separate schools and high schools grew, the County’s role in the administration of education devolved to local school boards and the Province, and the County effectively relinquished one of its primary historical roles.


“To Establish a New Line of Road...”

“Old Time Road Grader in Wilmot Township,” 1899

The shape of the block of land granted to the Six Nations Indians on either side of the Grand River, much of which was later sold to developers like the German Companies of Waterloo and Woolwich Townships and William Dickson in North Dumfries, determined to a large extent the way that land was surveyed and thus, how roads were laid out. Before 1850, major regional lines of transportation such as the Huron Road from Guelph to Goderich, the Brantford, Paris and Galt Road or the settler’s route from Dundas to Galt through the Beverly Swamp had also heavily influenced the overall design for opening, surveying and developing the land. It remained to the County and the townships to further build and refine internal arteries of transportation.

The new County continued to deal with petitions “praying for a sum of money” to assist in the opening of new lines of road, improving roads and bridges, constructing new bridges and dams and clearing timber along roadways, within the boundaries of the County or between neighbouring counties. The first roads petition of 1853 “praying for the sum of £20 in building a Bridge over Alder Creek” between Wilmot and Blenheim Townships south of New Dundee was referred to the Roads and Bridges Committee, a committee of two, who approved an expenditure of £12 10s “provided the County of Oxford will give the same amount.” The County paid for the cost of materials on the leading roads and bridges, while the townships provided statute labour crews who were supervised by township Pathmasters.

As the county was rapidly cleared of forest lands during the late 1800s, “spring freshets” wreaked yearly havoc on wooden bridges. The 1883 minutes of County Council noted that the Greenfield Bridge, the Slabtown Bridge, the Lisbon Bridge and Armstrong’s Bridge were all “swept down the river.” Bridges like Helmers Bridge at New Hamburg, Rau’s Bridge and many others were rebuilt or repaired time and time again, until sturdier building materials and conservation programs addressed the problems of the annual floods.


“The Sturdy Pioneer Accomplished Much Under the Statute Labor System”

A County Road system was designated by By-law No. 589 in 1908, entitling the County to receive grants under the provincial Act for the Improvement of Public Highways. Beginning in 1908, the County tax levy was divided into “ordinary” and “for roads”, in order to raise the necessary matching funds for the provincial grants. Statute labour on County roads was ended, for as Herbert Bowman the County Road Superintendent noted, “although the sturdy pioneer accomplished much under the Statute Labor System, more systematic work can be done at the present time by paying for the improvement of highways on a cash basis.”

Statute labour was an indirect form of taxation, where ratepayers were assessed days of road service according to the value of their properties. The introduction of the automobile, the growing sophistication of road engineering, including the use of iron (and later, steel) for bridges, concrete and macadamized surfacing materials and expensive grading and rolling equipment, spelled doom for the old ways.

The first macadamized County road, made of broken stone and gravel, was laid in North Dumfries Township in 1910. Road construction was curtailed during the First World War, but shortly afterward resumed with the assistance of the provincial grants. The first concrete pavement laid in Waterloo County, Provincial County Road 75, was a stretch of one and a half miles long and sixteen feet wide, north of St. Jacobs. It was officially opened in 1919 by officials of County Council and Woolwich Township Council, having cost just over $23,000.

During the Depression, road building continued through county road work programs and provided relief employment to many, as for example, with the building of the bow-and-arch concrete bridge at Bridgeport in 1934. Road work deferred until after the war resulted in a backlog of projects. Increasing volumes and speed of traffic, more demand for open roads in all weather, heavier weights of trucks, and the need for new equipment all demanded increasing amounts of attention and money.

After the cities of Berlin (1912), Galt (1916) and later Waterloo (1947) withdrew from the County, arrangements for shared financing of roads and bridges became more complex. Suburban Road Commissions were created with Galt (1916), Berlin (1917) and Waterloo (1948) to coordinate road work on arteries extending from the cities, and to promote traffic into the cities.

Fair distribution of taxation for road levies was a goal of the Waterloo County Roads Commission formed in the early 1950s in order to resolve ongoing arguments over road expenditures and levies, although the problem never really disappeared. The development of various planning committees and boards within the municipalities of the County was in part a response to this growing need for rationalization and consolidation of transportation and other services on a broader footing.


“Expending the Charity of the County at One Place”
[1871]

House of Industry, Berlin, c. 1890

The establishment of Houses of Industry and Refuge in Ontario was originally designated as part of the “Administration of Justice and Matters of Police” by the Municipal Act. At the poor house the inmate would be “diligently employed” in the house or on its adjoining farmlands. Reeves, Deputy-Reeves, Justices of the Peace and other officers of the law would have the authority for committals. In 1868, Waterloo County Council purchased a 141 acre farm on Frederick Street for its House of Industry and Refuge. It opened in 1869, shortly after the Norfolk County House of Refuge which was the first in the Province to admit an “inmate.”

In 1871, Berlin Reeve William Jaffray addressed County Council on his “Day at the Waterloo Poor House,” providing a memorable depiction of how “the charity of the County” was expended on “the poverty-stricken of the land.” His expectation was that other institutions in Ontario would give more specialized care to the blind, the deaf, the “inebriate” and so on. Over the years, the records of County Council noted the referral of County residents to the Toronto Home for Incurables, the Hamilton Asylum, the Victoria, St. John’s and Alexandra Industrial Schools, local hospitals in Berlin and Galt, orphanages in Berlin, St. Agatha and Wellesley, and later (1917) the Coombe Home for children in Hespeler. With the introduction of Mother’s Allowances (1920), Old Age Pensions (1927) and Family Allowances (1944), it would become possible for more “aged and deserving poor” and children to live at home. The County remained active in its support of this widening network of social services.

The idea of a self-sufficient “work farm” that supported itself and gave inmates employment by farming carried on well into the mid-twentieth century in Waterloo County, although the idea never proved fully practicable. As the city of Berlin, later Kitchener, grew around the House of Refuge and its lands were gradually sold to the city, additional acreages were purchased by the County, at Freeport (1915), and at the Shuh Farm on King Street East and the Weber Farm east of Kitchener (1949). It was planned that the original facility on Frederick Street would continue to care for the chronically ill, while the new farms would provide a home for those more able to care for themselves. However, in the 1950s, as plans for a new County Home for the Aged unfolded, the Shuh and Weber farm properties were sold and the old Frederick Street site was sold to the Salvation Army for an Eventide Home. The 1869 House of Industry and Refuge was demolished, after its successor, Sunnyside Home, was officially opened in 1957.


Agriculture and Conservation

County Councillors leaving for reforestation tour, 1945

For the first fifty years of its existence, Waterloo County was predominantly rural. In the latter half of the nineteenth century while its central towns were growing toward cityhood, its rich agricultural lands were cleared, creating prosperity for the district as a whole. County government supported agriculture through measures such as grants to agricultural fairs, rural organizations, through its annual appointment of a “county pupil” to the Ontario Agricultural College and through its support of the County Agricultural Representative program. One of the early debentures issued by the County was to purchase seed “for the relief of persons suffering from the failure of crops” in Wellesley Township after the disastrous frosts of 1858. As the cities withdrew from the County, the interests of the agricultural and rural constituency continued strong.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, advocates of conservation promoted woodlot management and other projects to maintain water tables, prevent erosion and preserve the virgin beauty of the County’s forests and woodlands. In the 1940s, the County began to purchase acreages for reforestation. Beginning with a 100 acre tract in North Dumfries Township, during the next twenty years over 700 acres were acquired by the County for reforestation, including the Sudden Tract in North Dumfries Township (1944) and the Sandy Hill Tract in Woolwich Township (1945).

In the 1960s, most of the County forests came under the management of the Ministry of Lands and Forests as Agreement Forests. At the same time, the terms of reference of the Trees Act and the Forestry Act began to include broader environmental issues such as recreation, wildlife habitat, flood and erosion protection and water supplies that were of both rural and urban concern and that would be addressed under the regional concept. By 1993, the Region of Waterloo owned over 800 acres in its eleven forest tracts, including the recent gift (1992) of the 25-acre Walker Woods Tract in Wilmot Township.


From County to Region

From the early 1960s, active study, discussion and planning had led to the inception of regional government, but the need for more coordinated development and public services was felt even earlier. The separation of the Cities of Berlin, Galt and Waterloo led to a fragmentation within the County that resulted in a variety of special arrangements for the joint provision of common services. For many years, these seemed to function reasonably well, although there were often differences on sharing costs as the arrangements became more and more complex. Annexations, between the cities and the County, and within the County itself, put increasing pressure on the various municipalities, especially those losing assessment or significant portions of land. For example, by the early 1970s, Waterloo Township had been cut virtually in half by over forty annexations.

Increasingly, it was recognized during the 1960s that overall planning issues relating to development, agricultural land, the environment, municipal servicing, protective services, health and social programs, emergency measures, and education needed to be addressed on an area-wide basis. At the same time as these problems were being raised, the Ontario government was beginning to study massive reform of local government in the more densely populated areas of the province. The report of the Select Committee of the Ontario Legislature Regarding the Municipal and Related Acts, tabled in 1967, recommended larger units of local government that would be designated as “regional.” These would be established with suitable boundaries with regard to population, assessment, logical planning areas, watersheds, and economic and social conditions. The Report of the Committee further recommended that the county be employed as the basic unit of reorganization.

To deal with some planning issues, the Waterloo County Area Planning Board had been created in 1965, but it was unable to create solutions for all of the problems confronting the area. In 1966, the County, on behalf of the Area Planning Board, applied to the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs “to study what form of (reformed) municipal government should be undertaken.” The ensuing study, commissioned in 1967, was conducted by Dr. Stewart Fyfe of Queen’s University. Informed by over one hundred briefs from the community, it resulted in The Report of the Waterloo Area Local Government Review (The Fyfe Report) tabled in March 1970 by Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs, Darcy McKeough.

At the tabling of the Report of the Waterloo Area Local Government Review. Alderman Jack Young and Dr. Stewart Fyfe, 1970

Fyfe had proposed either a system of two separated cities and a separate, more powerful County for the other area municipalities, or a two tier system which brought the separated cities back into a reformed County. In March 1971, the Minister of Municipal Affairs announced that the Province had decided to implement the latter. A new reformed and restructured County was to be created which would be called the Regional Municipality of Waterloo.

It would be composed of seven area municipalities. Preston, Hespeler, Galt, and a portion of Waterloo and North Dumfries Townships were to be amalgamated into a new City. Kitchener and Waterloo were each expanded by taking portions of Waterloo Township. New Hamburg and Wilmot Township were combined, as were Wellesley Village and Wellesley Township. Ayr was merged into North Dumfries. Elmira, Woolwich Township, and the remnant eastern portion of Waterloo Township were amalgamated into Woolwich Township. A new Regional Council was created from the local area councils and a Regional Chairman was to be appointed by the Province for the first two terms of the Council.

June 30, 1972, Lieutenant-Governor Ross Macdonald signed the Regional Act into law, and on July 13, Jack A. Young was appointed to a four and a half year term as Regional Chairman. Plans were initiated for staffing the new Regional structure, along with plans for municipal elections to be held in October. Galt, Preston and Hespeler began the task of selecting a name for the new city of which they would be part.

The last formal meeting of County Council was held on December 20, 1972, with County Councillors, former Wardens, wives and guests in attendance. Warden de Vries expressed his hope that Regional officials would “lead the new district with courage and with strict regard for the common man.”


Conclusion

In the one hundred and twenty years that spanned the beginning of County government and Regional government, the Waterloo region had seen its population swell, had experienced two World Wars, intense industrialization, the major economic Depression of the 1930s, the birth and growth of three cities, the transformation of agriculture and the beginnings of a new style of economy based in technology rather than industry. Where County government had gradually lost its ability to mediate increasingly complex local issues and to serve the interests of the whole, Regional government was empowered to plan for the greatest good, to overcome duplication of services, to provide a fair and equal standard of physical and human services, and to protect the citizens of the Region. Thirty years of Regional government have created the framework for the delivery of services to a broad and diversified constituency. While the solid accomplishments of infrastructure reflect one of the basic roles of government, the delivery of its human services continues to evolve, reflecting how society changes over time.

In 1970, Dr. Stewart Fyfe remarked that the 1850 (1853) map of Waterloo County had provided a guide to his thinking as he shaped his recommendations for Regional Government. The original county had seven local townships and villages that were in a sense “subsidiaries” to county government, as would be the confederation of seven new municipalities, he said. Although the structure of government and of society had changed substantially over one hundred and twenty years, the seven new municipalities—three cities and four townships—within a framework of regional government, were indeed reminiscent of the past and shaped for the future.

Researched and written by Elizabeth Hardin
© 1993, 2004 The Regional Municipality of Waterloo