As promised, Ontario’s PC government introduced new legislation today that, if passed, would give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa super powers — but not the fun ones.
The Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act aims to give the mayors of Ontario’s two largest cities “greater responsibility for achieving shared provincial-municipal priorities,” according to a press release issued by the province on Wednesday.
This roughly translates into allowing mayors to hire their own heads of department (except for specific roles such as police chief and integrity commissioner), appoint chairmen of local councils and commissions, and propose their own municipal budgets – all tasks that are currently implemented by the city council as a whole.
Most importantly, this legislation would allow a “strong mayor” to veto any decision made by the city council that “could interfere with a provincial priority.”
I think a lot of the coverage will be about the advantages of a strong mayoral system over the current one, but that’s super weird. Which mayoral system gives the mayor the power to veto bylaws based on the wishes of the state/province? pic.twitter.com/XEk7EeuG1t
— Arman Agbali (@ArmanBazz) August 10, 2022
“Mayors’ powers to veto council-approved by-laws and to bring matters before council will only apply to matters related to provincial priorities,” the announcement said.
“These priorities could include building 1.5 million new homes over 10 years to address the housing supply crisis, as well as building and maintaining infrastructure, such as transit and roads, to support new and existing housing construction.”
It’s currently unclear what is considered a provincial priority other than building more homes, but the government says it will create “accompanying regulations” to determine priorities if/when the legislation is passed.
It’s not a strong mayoral system, it’s a strong puppet system. Then again, did we really think @fordnation (or any PM, for that matter) would allow the mayors of the province’s two biggest cities to somehow potentially rival him for power? https://t.co/jK5jXrno1Q
— James Bow (KW-TO) (@JamesBowKWTO) August 10, 2022
Critics are not thrilled with what some see as a “puppet-like” system where the province can essentially use the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to control municipal politics.
Ford’s proposal for a strong mayor in Toronto and Ottawa massively undermines local democracy and accountability. Its mayors can overrule budgets and bylaws, politicize public services, and generally anything that doesn’t align with Ford’s provincial priorities.https://t.co/Q9E9vLE4B6
— Kristyn Wong-Tam 黃慧文(they/them) (@kristynwongtam) August 10, 2022
The proposed changes to mayoral powers will go into effect on November 15th of this year if all goes according to plan for Ford and friends, which means we also don’t know exactly who Ontario’s new “strong mayors” will be.
Doug Ford’s “strong mayor” legislation is not creating housing or strengthening Toronto. It weakens our local democracy, reduces the ability of councilors to hold the mayor accountable, and with veto power for provincial purposes, in the wrong hands the mayor becomes the servant of Queen’s Park.
— Josh Matlow (@JoshMatlow) August 10, 2022
Both Toronto and Ottawa hold municipal elections in late October. If incumbents John Tory and Jim Watson secure another term, they will be the first provincial mayors to have veto-like powers in the US.
It’s a concept that many online aren’t entirely happy with for Ontario, mainly because of how much more power the move appears to give the province.
“So it’s not really strong mayoral powers. Rather that mayors act as powers of PM’s supporters,” a local resident tweeted about the proposed legislation.
“In other words: Doug Ford should be telling the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa what to do,” wrote another. “How is that a ‘strong mayor’?”
Ford Strong Mayor’s proposal has nothing to do with housing, as he himself has already admitted. It’s about this Prime Minister giving mayors the power to help him bypass councils, overturn local bylaws and stifle consultation. https://t.co/temylZj9v5
— Jeff Burch (@JeffBurch_) August 10, 2022
There is a certain safeguard, under the legislation as written, to prevent a power-hungry politician from making bad decisions: Council will also be able to override the mayor’s veto of any budget amendments or bylaws related to provincial priorities by a two-thirds majority.
“The reality is that over a third of Ontario’s growth over the next decade is expected to occur in Toronto and Ottawa, and too many families are already struggling with housing and the rising cost of living,” said Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark , when announcing the news.
“We need to support effective local decision-making to help cut red tape and speed up development timelines.”
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