WELLINGTON COUNTY – Two mayors in Wellington County are scratching their heads as to why their municipalities are among those selected to receive strong mayor powers.
The province wants to give strong mayor powers to 169 additional municipalities in Ontario with six or more councillors.
That means Centre Wellington and Minto mayors would receive these powers should the proposal be passed.
Under the legislation, strong mayors have the power to set budgets, hire and fire senior staff, rearrange municipal departments and change bylaws – all with the purpose of advancing provincial priorities like building homes, transit and other infrastructure.
The proposal is on Ontario’s Regulatory Registry where comments can be left until April 16.
If the legislation passes, it comes into effect May 1.
“I’m sure a number of them (municipalities listed) were just as surprised as we are,” Minto Mayor Dave Turton said in a phone interview on April 10.
He questioned the criteria and begged the question, “why us?”
Centre Wellington Mayor Shawn Watters had a similar response.
“I’m not quite sure what it means,” he said in a phone interview. “The province thinks of it as another tool to use to facilitate the housing component. But (Centre Wellington council) is pretty in tune.
“I think if I used it and didn’t talk to council first, that could cause division.”
Strong mayor powers and duties include:
- Choosing to appoint the municipality’s chief administrative officer.
- Hiring certain municipal department heads and establishing and re-organizing departments.
- Creating committees of council, assigning their functions and appointing the chairs and vice-chairs of committees of council.
- Proposing the municipal budget, which would be subject to council amendments and a separate head of council veto and council override process.
- Proposing certain municipal by-laws if the mayor is of the opinion that the proposed by-law could potentially advance a provincial priority identified in regulation. Council can pass these by-laws if more than one-third of all council members vote in favour.
- Vetoing certain by-laws if the head of council is of the opinion that all or part of the by-law could potentially interfere with a provincial priority.
- Bringing forward matters for council consideration if the head of council is of the opinion that considering the matter could potentially advance a provincial priority.
“Heads of Council are key partners in our efforts to build homes and infrastructure across the province,” said Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, in a press release.
“By extending strong mayor powers to these additional municipalities, we are providing mayors every tool at our disposal to empower them to get homes and infrastructure built faster. Mayors know their municipalities best, and we support them in taking bold actions for their communities.”
According to the release, “this tool complements historic and ongoing investments in housing-enabling infrastructure and the new Provincial Planning Statement that helps municipalities support growth by reducing and streamlining planning rules.”
“The Town of Minto is extremely grateful to the province of Ontario for the opportunity to be considered for strong mayor powers,” Turton said. “Until further notice we will be business as usual at the Town of Minto until we consider all options available to us.
“If there is something that would benefit the Town of Minto in reference to the mayor powers, we would certainly look into it,” he continued. “But we are a united unit, there is seven of us on council.”
He made it clear the future decisions in Minto would not be a one man show.
Watters said he’ll be talking to other mayors who already have the powers to gain a better understanding of their usefulness.
He said it’s his own personal decision-making style to have dialogue and seek opinions and he wants councillors and staff to continue to share information and opinions.
Guelph’s Mayor Cam Guthrie was given strong mayor powers in 2023 and said in an interview that while it can be helpful to have the tool, he doesn’t think the mayor should be involved in the hiring or firing of senior staff or the departmental structure of the organization, which the legislation allows.
He said staff should and must keep their professional neutrality when making recommendations to council and should not fear losing their job because they didn’t agree with the mayor.
“We need a strong, neutral, professional workforce and I don’t think the mayor should interfere with the administration at city hall,” he said. “It’s too political.
“But (strong mayor powers) can get information to council faster, it can move housing issues forward – those are when the mayor should consider using them, when needed.”
Guthrie said the powers are useful if there’s a divided council or a council that continually defers important decisions.
And he noted there are checks and balances, such as if the mayor wants to veto a decision, they need at least one-third of council support to do so.
The legislation requires the mayor to set the direction for the budget – how that shakes out will be different municipality to municipality.
Guthrie said he goes to council first to get their opinions on the budget and holds a public meeting. After that, he sets the direction for staff, “which basically I told them to try to be less than what was proposed,” he said.
The Ontario Regulatory Registry website states local impacts “depend on how the heads of council 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.”
No new administrative costs should arise for municipalities, it states.
– With files from Georgia York
