Ken Seiling is a retired Canadian politician, most notable for serving as Regional Chair of the

Regional Municipality of Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...

from 1985 to 2018. He served as mayor of the lower-tier municipality of

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

in the 1970s. Notable policy legacies of Seiling include the controversial "countryside line", a municipally managed

greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

and the development of Waterloo's light rail transit system, which was a defining topic in the 2014 election. He also helped spearhead action in the late 1990s and early 2000s to ban smoking indoors in Waterloo businesses.Waterloo Region Record (2020), New anti-smoking rules expected. https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2014/11/07/new-anti-smoking-rules-expected.html After 2014, Seiling was selected to co-lead a provincial report into efficiency and reform in municipal regional government.Jeff Outhit (2019), Former Waterloo Region chair Ken Seiling to help lead review of regional governments. Waterloo Region Record. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/01/15/ontario-ponders-reforming-local-government.html

Biography and Electoral History

Ken Seiling was born between 1946 and 1948. In the 1970s, he entered municipal politics as a councillor in the municipality of

. He later served as mayor of Woolwich, as his grandfather had at some time before him. Seiling received post-secondary education at

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, before serving as a teacher in Waterloo Region and then becoming a museum director at Wellington County Museum and Archives.Waterloo Regional Museum (2021), Ken Seiling. https://www.waterlooregionmuseum.ca/en/about-us/ken-seiling-aspx.aspx# As of 2021, he has five children and eleven grandchildren. Seiling served two years as a councillor and then nine years as Mayor of

. He was first elected by council as Regional Chair in 1985, followed by elections in 1988, 1991 and 1994, and following reorganization of

Waterloo County Waterloo County was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario from 1853 until 1973. It was the direct predecessor of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Situated on a subset of land within the Haldimand Tract, the traditional territory of ...

into a two-tier municipality, served as its regional chair after winning direct elections in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2010 and 2014. Before serving as Regional Chair, Seiling also served as head of the Waterloo Regional Police Commission. In his 1985 race to replace retiring chair James Gray, many other municipal politicians were considered as possible contenders, but he was elected, likely by a coalition of rural councillors.

Career as Chair

Seiling served as the chair of the Mayors and Regional Chairs of Ontario. During Seiling's time as chair, the Region grew from approximately 330,000 residents to over 500,000. In 1990, the Regional Council approved the construction of a new regional headquarters, which resulted in Seiling being named as a respondent in a 1992 lawsuit by a company that answered the request for proposals that did not receive the contract. In 2000, Seiling urged the regional council to reject amalgamation into a single-tier municipality, citing the length of the amalgamation period could be better spent on finding reforms within the two-tier system. Seiling was not willing to commit regional staff resources to analysis of reform, creating internal controversy with other municipal politicians. In 2001, Waterloo created one of Canada's strictest municipal smoking bans. In 2002, in the aftermath of the Walkerton water crisis, Seiling endorsed regional/county control of water services, causing controversies within Waterloo Region as lower-tier politicians argued in favour of more local control. In 2007, Seiling disputed an assertion by some Six Nations leaders that approval of traditional chiefs (via a development authority) of the Six Nations were required before construction could occur within the area in Waterloo that coincide with the

Haldimand Tract The ''Haldimand Proclamation'' was a decree that granted land to the Mohawk (or Kanien'kehà:ka) (Mohawk nation) who had served on the British side during the American Revolution. The decree was issued by the Governor of the Province of Quebec, ...

. In 2007, Seiling promoted intensification through transit policy, proposing rapid transit funding and alternatives to car-based travel. These remarks, given to then-leader of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...

John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 65th and current mayor of Toronto since 2014. After a career as a lawyer, political strategist and businessman, Tory ran as a mayoral candidate in the 2003 ...

at a Progressive Conservative youth event. In the 2010 regional plan, the Region continued a relatively uncommon 2003 policy of limiting the amount of land available for

greenfield development Greenfield land is a British English term referring to undeveloped land in an urban or rural area either used for agriculture or landscape design, or left to evolve naturally. These areas of land are usually agricultural or amenity properties b ...

through "countryside lines" creating limits on countryside development, essentially a

. This led to an appeal by developers to the

Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was an independent administrative board, operated as an adjudicative tribunal, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It heard applications and appeals on municipal and planning disputes, as well as other matters sp ...

, which sided with the developers against the Region, which then sued, challenging the government agency's decision as

unreasonable Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lan ...

. In 2015, a compromise between the original 90 hectare Regional greenfield allocation and developer 1,053 hectare request was reached, with 450 hectares being made available. In 2013, after failure to comply with regional recommendations, the Region seized Sand Hills Housing Co-op, placing it under regional control, following authority granted by the Ontario Housing Act to do so to protect co-op members against mismanagement. In 2013, Seiling opposed Woolwich's municipal government's decision to permit construction of a casino within the municipality, citing costs to regional police services and social services. The casino plans were ultimately shelved after the gaming commission stipulated that construction would have to occur specifically at an already existing horse racetrack. In 2014, Seiling helped lead a local consortium that lobbied the

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...

to increase frequency of GO Train service to the region to 15-minute service. The Ontario government responded with a commitment to rail electrification which would facilitate moving toward a level of service termed "all-day, two-way GO", without committing to a specific timeframe for completion. In 2015, after advocacy on the part of Seiling among others, the provincial government committed to being construction on expansion of Highway 7 between Waterloo and Guelph, which had been planned since 1989.

Post-retirement

After retirement, the Waterloo Region Museum was named after Ken Seiling as a tribute to his service. Seiling was selected alongside former Ontario Deputy Minister Michael Fenn to lead a report on the efficiency of regional government in Ontario, commonly understood to be about exploring converting some two-tier municipalities into single-tier municipalities. The province ultimately decided not to assert amalgamation on regional governments, keeping the report confidential, and Seiling expressed disappointment more recommendations were not adopted.CBC News Kitchener-Waterloo (2019), Ken Seiling "disappointed" by outcome of Ontario's regional government review. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/ken-seiling-regional-government-review-reaction-1.5343150

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seiling, Ken People from Woolwich, Ontario 1940s births Year of birth uncertain Living people Wilfrid Laurier University alumni McMaster University alumni Mayors of places in Ontario University of Toronto alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians 20th-century Canadian politicians Directors of museums in Canada Canadian schoolteachers 20th-century Canadian educators Politicians from the Regional Municipality of Waterloo