Durham Region 101

The Government of Canada provides services relating to the entire country: 

• Census 
• Citizenship
• Copyrights
• Criminal law
• Defence
• External and international relations 
• Employment insurance
• Immigration 
• Income tax
• Indigenous affairs
• Money and banking 
• Postal service
• Transportation

The Government of Ontario delivers services that relate to the province:

• Administration of justice
• Drivers' licenses 
• Environment
• Education
• Agriculture
• Highways
• Hospitals, health care and health cards
• Natural resources
• Sales tax
• Housing 
• Property and civil rights
• Provincial highways

The Regional Municipality of Durham delivers a variety of programs and services throughout the region:

• Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) 
• Durham Region Transit 
• Emergency Management
• Maintenance of water and sewer infrastructure 
• Paramedic services 
• Community Growth and Economic Development 
• Public health services 
• Regional roads, bridges and traffic signals 
• Social Services including social housing, social assistance, Child Care and Early Years Division (CCEYD), family services and long-term care, and services for seniors. 
• Solid waste management
• 9-1-1 services 

Municipal government is sometimes split into two tiers, upper-tier Regional government and lower-tier local area municipalities. Your local area municipal governments (Town of Ajax, Township of Brock, Municipality of Clarington, City of Oshawa, City of Pickering, Township of Scugog, Township of Uxbridge and Town of Whitby) are responsible for: 

• Animal control
• Birth, death and marriage licenses 
• By-law enforcement
• Municipal cemeteries
• Fire protection and prevention
• Heritage
• Local roads (streets and sidewalks)
• Local planning and zoning
• Local waste for some cities and towns
• Municipal elections
• Parks and recreation
• Property tax administration

Organize into groups of four to six students and choose one of the following topics to discuss. Prepare your answers as a brief presentation to the class. What would the impact be to you, as a resident of Durham Region, if these services did not exist?

• Delivery of quality drinking water
• Garbage, recycling and green bin collection
• Ambulance and paramedic services
• Public health – inspections
• Social housing

Durham Region elected the Regional Chair for the first time in 2014. What role does the Regional Chair play in the community? Discuss how the role of the Regional Chair must work for all eight local area municipalities and balance their interests. After the discussion, nominate two students to develop election campaigns for the role of Regional chair. Organize a debate between the two candidates, and a class vote. After the results are tallied, have a discussion with the class. Why is democracy so important?

Scenario: A local field that you spent many summers riding your bicycle on has now become the subject of a re-zoning application for a local developer to build a new, multi-million square-foot shopping facility. Encourage students to take on the role of a Regional Councillor and debate the issue of whether this field should be re-zoned for commercial purposes. What are the impacts to the surrounding area? What are the impacts to the local economy?

Encourage the class to reflect on the types of careers that may be available at the Region of Durham. In groups or individually, have students visit the Career page on durham.ca and choose a job posting to discuss. How does that position contribute to the services delivered by the Region of Durham? Why is it of interest to them? 

Organize into groups of four to six students and choose one of the following topics to discuss. Prepare your answers as a brief presentation to the class. What would the impact be to you, as a resident of Durham Region, if these services did not exist? 

• Deliver of quality drinking water 
• Garbage, recycling and green bin collection
• Ambulance and paramedic services
• Public health - inspections 
• Social housing

Durham Region is made up of eight local area municipalities: Ajax, Brock, Clarington, Oshawa, Pickering, Scugog, Uxbridge and Whitby. Do you have family or friends in a different municipality than you live in? What are the main differences between the municipalities that you can recognize? Encourage students to discuss the mixture of urban and rural landscapes within Durham Region, and how it affects local industry and economy. 

Many elected officials use social media to communicate with their constituents. Organize the class into two groups, to represent the benefits and challenges of communicating with constituents in this way. What might the difference be between the content shared by an elected official versus what is officially shared by the Region of Durham's social media channels? Discuss how messages of opinion and fact differ.

Encourage the class to reflect on the types of careers that may be available at the Region of Durham. In groups or individually, have students visit the Careers page on durham.ca and choose a job posting to discuss. How does that position contribute to the services delivered by the Region of Durham? Why is it of interest to them?