A man who has often shared his views on municipal spending with Chatham-Kent administration and council will take his opinions to a higher level this week.
John Cryderman is to speak before the provincial Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs in Windsor on Thursday.
“I’m not there to bitch about any government or party. I’m trying to give information from a layman’s point of view that they need to tweak their governance and work from the bottom up,” he said.
He believes he can help the Ontario government spend more wisely, saving billions, while not putting anyone out of work.
“I have to be able to show them how to reallocate funds without laying people off or dampening services for the taxpayer,” Cryderman said. “I have to be able to take the time to lay it out into a word frame so people can understand and know where I’m coming from.”
His area of focus will be on the province keeping closer tabs on the money it doles out to municipalities.
“They can mitigate how they impose more taxes by not having to give out more money. There are municipalities across the province squandering – whether unintentionally or not – provincial money,” Cryderman said.
He cited Chatham-Kent as a prime example, referring to millions spent on an industrial park on Highway 401 that is severely underutilized, cost overruns at Kingston Park, the Chatham Capitol Theatre, and the John D. Bradley Convention Centre.
“All this adds up over a short period of time,” he said. “There has to be a change of mindset. Just to reallocate funds.”
Cryderman admits his exposure to municipal operations is largely limited to here in Chatham-Kent, where he lives. But he also pointed to Brampton, where more than two dozen top municipal staffers there were sacked this fall.
“Millions of dollars have been squandered, giving little to zero return,” Cryderman said of the bloated bureaucracy in Brampton.
According to published reports, the move took place following an external review conducted by the province’s former auditor general last year.
That review showed Brampton had labour costs that were not sustainable. Those costs included top bureaucrats.
The estimated annual savings from the Brampton purge is about $2 million a year, as many of the turfed municipal staffers will not be replaced.
Cryderman said the province faces health-care spending pressures as the population ages, and should address needs in the education and social services sectors as well.
“One way is to not give broader powers to municipalities, but instead enforce stricter guidelines for oversight,” he said.
He believes the province should amend legislation and acts to allow the Ontario government to let the auditor general have open access to all the ledgers in every municipality.
“Where can we go after extra money without laying people off and compromising services? Better municipal management and oversight,” he said.
Cryderman said he believes larger municipalities simply have too much on their plate, and they are only getting bigger.
“I think government has gotten so big they don’t know how to police the cash. Municipalities are left to police themselves,” he said. “When you leave the kids alone in the play room, they’re going to make a mess. It’s not like they mean to do it, but it happens.”
