VOCO: De-amalgamation Petition

Throughout 2001, an 11,000-signature petition demanding the de-amalgamation of Victoria County was repeatedly presented to the Ontario Legislature by several MPPs. This petition was one of the reasons cited by the Minister of Municipal Affairs when he granted the voters a referendum on this question.

Thus, on Nov. 10, 2003, for the first time in Ontario's history, a vote on de-amalgamation was placed on a provincially-mandated ballot. The people of Victoria County voted to de-amalgamate. Yet on Feb 19, 2004, the Liberal Government of Ontario announced that the vote would not be honoured.

We are now petitioning the Ontario Government to respect the result of the democratic vote. The first signatures were presented to the Legislature on March 29, 2004, by MPP Peter Kormos. To circulate a copy, print the PDF version at the left side of this page. Mail the completed pages to VOCO

Note: To be presented in the Legislature, petitions to the Ontario Legislative Assembly must follow certain rules and guidelines.These are outlined on the OLA web page

Petition 2004

TO: The Legislative Assembly of Ontario

WHEREAS Dalton McGuinty, MPP, as Leader of the Official Opposition made the following commitment: “I have committed that a Liberal government will ensure a binding referendum is held to allow local citizens to determine whether or not to dismantle the amalgamated city”; and,

WHEREAS in the interest of true democracy the Minister of Municipal Affairs put the following question to the voters of The City of Kawartha Lakes: “Are you in favour of a return to the previous municipal model of government with an upper-tier and 16 lower-tier municipalities?” ; and,

WHEREAS the voters, by a clear majority on a Provincially-mandated ballot, answered in the affirmative; and,

WHEREAS the Council of the City of Kawartha Lakes has demanded that the Province of Ontario honour the results of the 2003 election as it pertains to the Minister’s Question;

THE UNDERSIGNED DEMAND that the Legislative Assembly of Ontario act to honour the commitment made by Dalton McGuinty and to respect the will of the people as expressed in a democratic vote, and restore the former municipal structure as stated in the Minister’s Question.

Petition 2001
Listed at the left of this page are the MPPs who presented the original (2001) petition. Several are now in the government. Ask them why they are not insisting that their party respect the referendum.

Mike Colle( Eglinton-Lawrence )
Ted McMeekin(Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Aldershot) made a moving speech in support of allowing de-amalgamation.
Dave Levac(Brant), Chief Government Whip -
Jim Bradley( St. Catharines ), Minister of Tourism and Recreation