Government
Waterloo City Council consists of seven councillors, each representing a ward, and a mayor. The number of wards expanded from five to seven in the November 2006 elections. The current mayor of Waterloo is Brenda Halloran, who was elected in November 2006 and re-elected in 2010. The current Waterloo City Council is constituted as follows:
- Ward 1 (Southwest): Scott Witmer
- Ward 2 (Northwest): Karen Scian
- Ward 3 (Lakeshore): Angela Vieth
- Ward 4 (Northeast): Diane Freeman
- Ward 5 (Southeast): Mark Whaley
- Ward 6 (Central-Columbia): Jeff Henry
- Ward 7 (Uptown): Melissa Durrell
The City is responsible for fire protection, libraries, parks and recreation, and secondary streets. Many municipal services are provided through the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (often referred to as Waterloo Region or the Region of Waterloo), which consists of the cities of Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge, and the townships of Woolwich, Wilmot, Wellesley, and North Dumfries. Regional responsibilities include social welfare, community health, and policing through the Waterloo Regional Police Service.
Past and present city councils have been committed to providing for the explosive population growth that is coming with the local economic boom. Rapidly developing subdivisions are often described by their critics as urban sprawl that threatens environmentally sensitive areas and valuable agricultural land.
Federally and provincially, the entire city of Waterloo is contained within the Kitchener—Waterloo electoral district.
Read more about this topic: J.F. Carmichael Public School
Famous quotes containing the word government:
“The government of the world I live in was not framed, like that of Britain, in after-dinner conversations over the wine.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I heartily accept the motto, “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,—”That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“What is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?”
—James Madison (1751–1836)