Ontario introduces ‘strong mayor’ legislation to speed up housing development
Posted August 10, 2022 5:47 am.
Last Updated August 10, 2022 6:01 pm.
Ontario has introduced legislation that proposes to give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa veto powers over bylaws that conflict with provincial priorities, such as building housing.
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark tabled the bill, called the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, on Wednesday afternoon.
If passed, the bill would give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the ability to “move priority projects forward and get more homes built faster.”
It would allow the mayors of those two cities to override council approval of a bylaw, for example, a zoning bylaw, that would hamper a set of provincial priorities that will be set out later in regulations.
Under the ‘strong mayor’ system, council would be able to override the mayor’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote. The mayor currently only has one vote in decision-making, the same as other city councillors.
Some of the proposed changes include:
- Hiring the Chief Administrative Officer and municipal department heads, and create and re-organize departments
- Appointing chairs/vice-chairs for identified committees and local boards, and establish new identified committees
- Bringing matters for council consideration related to provincial priorities
- Vetoing bylaws approved by council if they relate to matters of provincial priority
- Proposing the municipal budget
“The province is actively deepening our cooperation on all fronts across all municipalities to get 1.5 million homes built over the next 10 years,” Clark said in a release.
The province said the proposed bill would enable council to propose amendments to the municipal budget. City council would also be able to “override the mayor’s veto of any budget amendments and bylaws related to provincial priorities with a two-thirds majority vote.”
The legislation would also give the mayors the responsibility for preparing and tabling their city’s budget, instead of council, appoint a chief administrative officer, and hire and fire department heads, except for statutory appointments such as an auditor general, police chief or fire chief.
If passed, the proposed legislation will go into effect on November 15, at the start of the new municipal council term. The municipal elections will be held on October 24.
Related:
Premier Doug Ford has said he was planning for a “strong mayor” system for Toronto and Ottawa and is considering expanding that to other cities.
Ford indicated through his government’s throne speech Tuesday that strong-mayor systems will let municipal leaders reduce timelines for development, standardize processes and address local barriers to increasing housing supply.
The U.S.-style “strong mayor” system is typically marked by the centralization of executive power with the mayor, who has control over department head appointments, oversees budgets, and sometimes is granted veto power.
“This change is something that I’ve said I would support – I spoke about it before the last election. I will review the proposed Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act as quickly as possible now that it has been introduced,” Tory said on Wednesday after the legislation was introduced.
“At the end of the day, my job remains the same, to work with City Council and every elected official in City Hall or elsewhere who wants to work with me to get things done for the people of Toronto.”
Ford previously left his mark on Toronto municipal politics when his government cut the size of city council from 47 seats down to 25, shortly after he was elected as premier in 2018.
Ford invoked a notwithstanding clause to pass legislation to shrink the council. It was the first time the clause was used in Ontario’s history.
He did not indicate during the recent provincial election campaign that he was planning to introduce ‘strong mayor’ legislation.
