A Chatham-Kent councillor whose motion to review the make-up of municipal council was shot down is leaving the door open to revisiting the issue.
A recent vote by Chatham-Kent Council ended the possibility of a third-party review of the municipality's wards.
On Monday, the decision to award a $68,251 contract to Strategy Corp to review the composition of CK failed with a vote of 8-8.
Councillors Allin, Bondy, Hall, Harrigan, Jubenville, B. McGregor, Storey, and Mayor Canniff voted for the motion.
Councillors Anderson, Ceccacci, Crew, Doyle, Finn, McGrail, Thompson, and Wright voted against it.
Ward 4 Councillor Rhonda Jubenville brought forward the original motion, which not only looked at the ward boundaries but also the size of council.
She was disappointed at the outcome of Monday night's vote and said she is contemplating bringing another motion forward.
"It can't be the same motion due to our procedural bylaws, but I may bring something forward with a similar theme," Jubenville said.
She added that the part of the motion that sought to decrease the size of council might have held some councillors back from voting for the review of the ward boundaries.
Ward 3 Councillor Trevor Thompson remains opposed to the whole motion, especially the process of revisiting ward boundaries.
"We have a lot of issues to deal with as a council, and ward boundaries isn't one of them," he stated. "It's a waste of time, effort, and ultimately a large headache for the community."
Thompson believes that not enough has changed within the municipality since the last review was done in 2015 to necessitate a new one.
Despite municipal reviews of the ward boundaries in 2008, 2011, and 2015 no changes have been made to the map since amalgamation.
"Boundaries are always strange," Thompson said, adding that while the current boundaries aren't perfect, the wards in Chatham-Kent generally make sense to him.
"The public hasn't widely accepted any of the options put before them in the past. We need to spend more time working collaboratively to move this municipality forward and less time navel-gazing at lines on a map," he concluded.
Ward 6 Councillor Brock McGregor disagrees. He believes that reviewing the municipality's wards should be a process that's done regularly.
"I remain supportive of any effort to review and update an out-of-date ward system that currently includes boundaries that no longer make sense and a ward structure that is grossly inequitable," he said. "We should care about concepts like representation by population and communities of interest."
Both Jubenville and B. McGregor believe using a third party to do the review is the best way forward as well.
"I did consult the Municipality prior to putting the [initial] Motion forward," Jubenville said. "They suggested that there wouldn't be much of a cost savings to do the review 'in-house' as it may take some staff away from other important matters in order to complete it in a timely matter, which may require of full shift of staff responsibilities."
McGregor said using a third-party is the only appropriate pathway for a complete governance review.
"We have historical data demonstrating that the current ward structure leaves some residents significantly under-represented," he stated. "An independent process that includes community input is the way to avoid the politics of politicians re-drawing borders."
If a new motion is brought forward, it will need to be done soon in order for changes to take place before the next scheduled municipal election.
The review itself is a time-consuming process that would need to be completed in compliance with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ontario Land Tribunal, brought back to council, and voted on prior to October of 2026 in order for changes to come into effect before the next municipal council takes over.