Today, the Province of Ontario announced it will be extending strong mayor powers, effective July 1, 2023, to every municipality that has adopted a housing pledge, including Burlington – City Council unanimously endorsed the pledge to build 29,000 homes by 2031 and we currently have 23,000 units under review.
Each mayor will need to decide what is best for their community in meeting their housing pledge targets, and whether to use some, all, or none of these new tools. The Province announced months ago these would be rolled out to additional municipalities and they have done that today.
These tools are not something I have requested. My focus has always been on building a strong city and a strong collaborative Council. One way has been through giving each Burlington Councillor a Deputy Mayor with Portfolio role to provide leadership on specific files that incorporate their interests and strengths from previous experiences. I will be working very closely with all the Deputy Mayors for – Housing; the Environment; Business & Red Tape Reduction; Recreation & Community Services; Community Engagement & Partnerships; and Strategy & Budgets – to meet our housing pledge and deliver complete communities for our residents.
I believe the best decisions are made in collaboration with Council, City staff and the community – and that will not change. Burlington Council is already very cohesive and collaborative, with more than 90% of our votes being unanimous, and the balance of votes with strong consensus around options.
We have always taken a “made-in Burlington” approach to changes that affect municipalities. Burlington Council works well together, and I know we will continue to do so.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward City of Burlington
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I’m glad to see many people responding on social media who are rejecting this woefully inadequate statement, calling out the affront to democracy and the hypocrisy. Wonder if the negative comments will be deleted and comments closed.
As one person aptly said “you do not need to undermine democracy in order to build homes. To suggest otherwise is farcical.”
Every mayor should have the integrity to have come out strongly with a statement denouncing this on principle, and vowing to never use the powers. “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
In 2018/19 I was an advocate for maintaining the integrity of local voice in municipal governance. I am much less enthused about it today and believe that a better path is to properly review those services that can best be delivered at the local level – and consolidate the rest. Not surprisingly but somewhat ironically, I am once again at odds with the direction of the Ford Government.
The Mayor’s statement is interesting on several levels. First, she notes (and not for the first time) that our housing pledge of 29,000 units by 2031 is quite achievable since we already “currently have 23,000 units under review”. Sounds good but is it? Aren’t at least a portion of these 23,000 units housed in high-rise developments that the City has promised to challenge in order to preserve the downtown? Is the new priority meeting the pledge target with an implied “open for business” for all developers.
It’s also rather unclear what the penalty is for not meeting the pledge some seven years from now. Is the recalcitrant municipality presented for public flogging or drummed out of the Strong Mayors Cadre with solemn drumrolls and bowed heads? Given the fact that likely all the players will have moved on and around by then, it’s certainly not a commitment with any sort of personal gravitas.
Finally, and this is just something that I have begun to find quite revealing. In her statement, the Mayor really doesn’t articulate why being a Strong Mayor will actually be good for Burlington. Why do we want this? Instead, she drones on about Council being “very cohesive and collaborative” and working well together. I think that this recurring theme is starting to suggest quite the opposite. I wonder if all Councillors would agree – in the comfort and safety of their own homes?
I understand that the Committee of Public Safety was also remarkably well aligned under Maximilien Robespierre.
Hahahahaha !! When they aren’t filing integrity complaints against each other and making brutal statements at each other, they get along great … . Your meetings are recorded. How’s it going behind the scenes?
We shall watch with interest. Won’t be hard to get the usual two to go along.