Markham City Council

The Markham City Council is the governing body of the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It consists of the mayor, eight councillors who each represent one of the city's eight wards, and four regional councillors who, along with the mayor, are elected by the community to represent the city at meetings of York Regional Council.

Council meets at the chambers at the Markham Civic Centre at the corner of Warden Avenue and Highway 7.

The next municipal election will be in 2014.

History

The numeric ward system in Markham remains mostly unchanged since the creation of the Town of Markham in 1971. In 1971 Markham had 6 wards and added 2 wards in 1976 (Ward 7) and 1984 (Ward 8).^[1]

Minor boundary changes have taken place (1978, 1982, 1997 and 2006) with no impact of the numbering.^[2]

Most ward changes require approval by the Ontario Municipal Board (in the case of 1976 and 1997) with only the 2006 changes not requiring prior approval.^[3]

There are now plans to change the boundaries for all 8 wards for 2014 elections with Thornhill assigned to Ward 1 instead of the current Ward 1 and 2 split.^[4]

The changes will also take into consideration existing neighbourhoods, natural boundaries, better representation by population, effective representation and accommodation for future growth of Markham.^[5]

Then still under town status, the mayor, town councillors and regional councillors were elected by the residents of Markham every 3 years until 2006. Provincial legislation extended the election period to 4 years.

Town Council 2006-2010

Regional Councillors

Regional councillor represent the city at York Regional Council. By default the mayor is also a member of Regional Council as well.

Current Council - Town (2006-2012) and City 2012-present

The council elected in the 2010 municipal election took office on December 1, 2010. The town council members became city council members on July 1, 2012 when Markham changed from a town to a city.^[7]

Regional Councillors

Regional councillor represent the city at York Regional Council. By default the mayor is also a member of Regional Council as well.

Vacancies

City council vacancies are filled by a by-election, as in the case in 2009 when then Ward 3 councillor Joseph Virgilio resigned to become Regional Councillor and Don Hamilton elected as the new Ward 3 councillor.

Prior to the Ward 3 by-election Joseph Virgilio was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the death of Regional Councillor Tony Wong.

Committees

Committees are created and chair and represented by city councillors to deal with issues and by-laws that impact the city. The chair and vice-chairs are elected selected by the mayor. STANDING COMMITTEES

• Development Services Committee
• General Committee
• Committee of the Whole

OTHER COMMITTEES

• Cornell Hub
• Langstaff Implementation
• Licensing
• Parking Advisory
• Environmental Issues
• Thornhill
• Toronto Liaison
• Green Print Steering
• Public Realm Advisory
• Storm Water Management Liaison
• School Board Liaison
• Seniors Hall of Fame Awards
• Stiver Mill Preservation

ADVISORY COMMITTEES

• Committee of Adjustment
• Heritage Markham Committee
• Achievement & Civic Recognition Awards (ACRA)
• Agricultural Advisory Committee
• Pandemic Readiness Emergency Plan (PREP) Steering
• Public Art Advisory
• Seniors' Hall of Fame Awards
• Environmental Advisory
• Race Relations
• Advisory Committee on Accessibility
• Animal Care
• Environmental Issues
• Cycling & Pedestrian Advisory

SUB-COMMITTEES

• Communications Committee and Information Technology
• Budget
• Licensing
• Milliken Mills
• Parking Advisory
• Southeast Community Centre & Library Design

References

• City of Markham

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