Cassidy McMackon, Canadian Press
A month after Ontario’s government extended strong mayor powers to a swath of new municipalities, a chorus of small-town councillors warn that local democracy is under threat.
As of May 1, another 169 mayors in the province can now veto bylaws, pass new ones with just one-third of council in favour and hire or fire municipal department heads unilaterally.
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack said last month that the province decided to more than triple the number of mayors who can access the powers in an effort to build housing faster and streamline local governance.
The measures were first introduced in 2022 and initially only applied to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario’s two most populous cities.
Mark Hunter, one of 10 city councillors in Stratford, recently got unanimous support for his motion to reject the new powers. Hunter said it was symbolic and designed to show that municipal democracy shouldn’t be “subject to provincial whim.”
“What it effectively does is get rid of majority rule in our council,” he said.
“It’s the expectation of the residents in our community that their representatives are able to fully represent them and this change puts some level of diminishment on that.”
David O’Neil, a councillor in Quinte West, said he is also concerned about strong mayor powers, adding they represent “a real misdirection” by the province.
“I think this decision is on par with the crazy idea of building a tunnel under the 401,” O’Neil said, referring to Premier Doug Ford’s promise to add a tunnel under the major Ontario highway.
He added he is skeptical that strong mayor powers would lead to new housing being built in his community, and thinks the province should waive development fees if it wants to see more housing built.
David Arbuckle, executive director of the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, said unilateral power threatens a local government’s administrative authority and staffers’ ability to give non-partisan, evidence-based advice.
“It’s changed the dynamic where (a city staffer) now has to be mindful of the fact that they could be hired or fired by the mayor at any point in time,” Arbuckle said in a recent interview.
“The advice they’re bringing forward may not be as neutral as possible because ultimately they are now responding to one individual.”
Corey Engelsdorfer, a councillor from Prince Edward County, said he’s worried the powers will exacerbate existing divisions on his council and, should they be used, could “sideline” constituents even as the community experiences a boom in development.
The traditional model of majority rule is already divisive, Engelsdorfer said — especially when it comes to housing decisions — so decisions being made with even less support could lead to even more public cynicism.
“The way we build homes is by working together as a council and not by one person or a third of council pushing through what they want to push through,” he said.
“I always hear Premier Ford say that these changes cut red tape, but democracy to me is not red tape. I don’t think it’s something that needs to be in place at all.”
Before last month, there were only 46 so-called strong mayors in Ontario. Only a few made use of their powers.
High-profile examples include Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath advancing affordable housing development on two municipal parking lots in April 2024, and Mississauga’s former mayor Bonnie Crombie passing bylaws to build fourplexes in October 2023.