By Pepper Parr
November 22, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
When Mayor Meed Ward announced that she was required to use the Strong Mayor Powers she was given by the province and would be putting a budget forward many took the position that Meed Ward was wrong.
Councillor Sharman has become the lead on defending the Mayor’s use of Strong Mayor Powers to produce a budget.
When delegating on Tuesday Ann Marsden challenged Council and said that there was no requirement for the Mayor to provide a budget.
Councillor Sharman said he was put the question to staff and later in the day he asked CFO Joan Ford:
Joan Ford: Chief Financial Officer
“Would you explain the process that we are under with respect to strong mayor’s legislation. And whether the mayor has the ability to not present a budget or to delegate that stuff.
“It was raised by several of the delegations and there seems to be some confusion about the process. So could you explain the process we’re in right now?
Ford responded: “Thank you very much for the questions. So under the strong mayor’s legislation, it does say that the head of council shall prepare a budget and provide that budget to council.
“It does further say that if the head of council does not propose a budget to council by February 1, then Council share shall prepare and adopt the budget for the municipality.”
Joan Ford might be correct when she uses the word “shall” – it depends on which version of the Strong Powers she is referring to.
There were two Strong Mayor Power decisions. Toronto and Ottawa were given strong powers; then, many months later, the rest of the municipalities were given the power.
However, they were not identical.
On July 1st, the rest of the municipalities were given Strong Mayor Powers; but several, Guelph is the best local example, did not chose not to use the Strong Mayor Powers.
For those who require more detail the following should satisfy them.
The Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022, the Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022, and associated regulations give the head of council (HOC) of certain municipalities strong mayor powers and duties. Currently, Toronto and Ottawa are the only municipalities where the HOC has strong mayor powers and duties.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is proposing amendments to O. Reg. 530/22 under the Municipal Act (MA) to expand the list of municipalities where the HOC has strong mayor powers and duties, to include certain single-tier and lower-tier municipalities that have committed to the province to move forward on shared provincial-municipal priorities and support the provincial priority to build 1.5 million homes by 2031.
In addition, the Ministry is proposing to clarify that existing dual vacancies rules in the Municipal Act (i.e., the lower-tier municipality, not upper-tier, is required to fill the vacancy) also apply in municipalities where HOC has strong mayor powers and duties.
Proposing that amendments to O. Reg. 530/22 would come into effect on July 1, 2023. Other amendments to designate additional municipalities where HOC has strong mayor powers and duties may be made in the future.
Analysis of Regulatory Impact:
By amending this regulation, the strong mayor framework would apply to more municipalities. Currently the framework applies to two municipalities – the City of Toronto and City of Ottawa.
Local impacts will depend on how the heads of council (HOC) in designated municipalities choose to use these strong mayor powers and how the municipality will support the implementation of these powers and duties for the HOC.
There are no requirements in the regulations that would result in new administrative costs for municipalities. Municipalities may choose to update local processes and policies at any time, based on their local needs and circumstances.
Further Information:
Bill 3: Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022
Bill 39: Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022
O. Reg. 530/22 – Municipal Act
Did Joan Ford make a mistake and confuse the first piece of legislation (Bill 3) with the second(Bill 39) or did Councillor Sharman lead her into saying what he needed to cover the story he and the Mayor have been spouting for the past three months.
Kicking off her campaign in 2014 Marianne Meed Ward asked for the trust of the people she wanted to represent.
Or were they both fibbing?
There are those who are very angry with the Mayor’s insistence on sticking to her position that she is required to deliver a budget.
They maintain the Mayor is lying; knows that she is lying and will stick to her position – she is already putting together an information base on what she wants to put forward in the way of a budget for 2025.
During one of her election campaigns for the ward 2 Council seat Marianne Meed Ward said to a group of people gathered at the Art Gallery that while she wanted their vote – what she really wanted was their trust.
You can’t continue to tell less than the truth and expect to have the trust of the people you represent.
Oh that was a very carefully worded answer. Some might opine that it seems scripted.
Fact remains that Burlington chose to accept the powers; others did not. Once accepted, sure, writing the budget is a requirement. The point is she wasn’t forced to accept the powers. Ergo, she wasn’t forced to do her own budget.
There are numerous other mayors and councillors who spoke out forcefully against strong mayor powers, many vowed not to use them, and several rejected them outright. Many councils had long discussions on the matter and some councillors submitted motions asking their mayor to reject them. All spoke about democracy and the very slippery slope that this will create, long after the current council is replaced.
Many former Toronto mayors publicly criticized the legislation and urged mayors across Ontario to reject them. Burlington should be ashamed that they aren’t in this group of democracy protectors.
In a strong opinion piece by Political Science Professors Zack Taylor and Martin Hiram,, I thought this sums it up well: “The foundation of Canada’s political system – and of all other democracies – is majority rule. Bill 39 entrenches a new principle: minority rule. In doing so, it rolls back almost 400 years of democratic development premised on checks and balances between executive and legislative authority – all in the name of a narrow property development agenda masquerading as a housing affordability plan. But once the strong mayor powers come into force, they will exist for years to come. What might future provincial government priorities be? To what new purposes might the Ontario government’s mayoral marionettes be turned in the future? We can only guess.
Bill 39 sets a terrible precedent that will reverberate across Canada and around the world. Arguing that minority rule will be rarely used, that it can be used only in specific circumstances, or that it is required to address an immediate crisis, is a red herring. Bill 39 will erode local autonomy and normalize minority rule as a legitimate governing principle. Minority rule has no place in a democracy.“
Full article is worth reading: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/december-2022/strong-mayor-powers-in-ontario-are-a-gross-violation-of-democratic-principles/
Are you saying my comment was very carefully worded and even scripted? I said I was not well informed on what Lynn stated. Please tell me if so, I’m injured.
I just wrote this off the cuff – not carefully worded, not scripted by any means.
I agree with what Lynn said – dangerous.
Certainly not, Tom. I was referring to Joan Ford’s statement.
Thanks, Lynn.
Paranoia will destroy’ya.
They got the power to move things, so don’t forget that
It’s my recollection, but I am not absolutely certain, that the Mayor gets the strong mayor powers only if she commits to the province move forward on shared provincial-municipal priorities and supports the provincial priority to build 1.5 million homes by 2031.
That commitment entitles the City to the housing funding that goes with it, but as I recall, that requires the Mayor to deliver a target number of housing units. She has talked a lot about that imposed target that Burlington has.
No target, no strong powers, no money is what I again recall hearing many times. and this is where the the uncertainty and confusion about the Mayoral obligation. to draft a budget comes from for me.
As the Gazette story says, this policy has been evolving and and only official Strong Powers are Toronto and Ottawa. Others have committed to the offer, and others have declined, which they can do.
I could venture that the Mayor and Sharman may be doing this for strategic reasons. They are committing to the the provincial plan for the benefits, the promised funding and cost sharing. Whereas, if they do not commit, at the cost of funding, hopefully getting some momentum to the real City housing growth, and the Mayor having to do a budget, they get nothing and lose some prospects.
And the policy keeps evolving and they may have to do what they are doing anyways. There is some of this sense in what Joan Ford said.
It’s too bad some people are really unhappy, but I think, if I were Mayor, and Sharman, I would be much more informed, have Joan Ford’s and staff ears and it’s their job to make big decisions, and take the heat.
The Mayor has already did a budget and the City I don’t think will be any worse for the wear with the lot of debate and discussion that I see and read and hear.
So now it’s getting to the politics and decision-making, and consequences.