Local mayors getting expanded powers

The mayors of Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and Brantford are among 26 municipal leaders across the province that will soon be granted strong mayor powers.

The legislation gives mayors expanded powers, including the ability to veto bylaws that conflict with provincial priorities like building more housing.

Housing Minister Steve Clark made the announcement Friday morning after a meeting with Ontario’s Big City Mayors at Queen's Park.

The change will take effect July 1.

“It's all around ensuring that those mayors have the tools to ensure that they meet their obligations,” Clark said, specifically pointing to the province’s target of building 1.5 million homes by 2031.

The move is designed to cut red-tape and speed up the delivery of municipal-provincial priorities such as housing, transit and infrastructure, Clark said.

Toronto and Ottawa were given strong mayor powers as part of Bill 39, also known as the Better Municipal Governance Act, late last year.

On Friday, Clarke said the 26 additional municipalities were chosen as they represent the largest and fastest growing in the province and have all submitted a housing pledge.

Strong mayor powers include the ability to:

• Appoint the city’s chief administrative officer (CAO)
• Hire certain department heads and re-organize departments
• Veto bylaws if they interfere with a provincial priority

KITCHENER MAYOR WEIGHS IN

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic was at Queen’s Park for the announcement. Speaking to CTV News after, he said when it comes to Kitchener, not much will change when it comes to how decisions are made at council.

“I think part of the importance and the strength of any successful council is when both the mayor and council can work collaboratively together towards a shared vision and implementing that vision,” Vrbanovic said.

“I think Kitchener council, together with our staff team, have continuously recognized and demonstrated that we can tackle some of our biggest challenges in that way and that’s the approach I plan to continue taking.”

WATERLOO MAYOR REACTS

Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe said it is still too early to tell what impact this will have but she doesn’t see it changing much.

“I feel like this is another piece of the puzzle, the strong mayor powers. But I don’t know that we have the full picture yet of exactly where the province is going with all the different legislation that has been brought in over the last several months,” McCabe told CTV News after the press conference. “At this point in time, I don’t see why or when I would need to use authorities like this at the City Of Waterloo.”

McCabe said particularly because the need for strong mayors is being tied to the need for housing, she believes the City of Waterloo is already in a good place.

“Overall Waterloo has been saying yes to most of these development applications that come in. We have thousands of housing units that are already approved,” McCabe said. “I don’t know if me having strong mayors abilities is going to change that.”

CAMBRIDGE MAYOR SURPRISED BY TIMING

Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett told CTV News that she was caught off guard by the timing of the announcement.

“Even though we had heard weeks ago more city mayors would be getting strong mayor powers, I didn’t know it was going to happen today, or that I would be given that added responsibility,” Liggett said in an email to CTV News.

Like Kitchener and Waterloo mayors – Liggett said not much will change.

“I am fortunate in having a council where we work collectively on behalf of our community in ways that we believe work in its best interest, community building as a team,” Liggett said.

She made a note that democracy is still alive and well around the horseshoe in Cambridge and that will continue in the future.

“There has never been a moment in my time as mayor where I can say I wished I had strong mayor powers and I don’t anticipate that to change when I have such an amazing cohesive council who understands their responsibilities,” she said.

WILL IT IMPACT THE REGION OF WATERLOO?

It is unclear if the new legislation will impact the Region of Waterloo’s government but Vrbanovic said it isn’t likely.

“To my understanding and knowledge, it is not something that the province is considering for regional chairs,” Vrbanovic said.

Region of Waterloo Chair Karen Redman did not go into detail on her thoughts on the strong mayor announcement but said in a statement to CTV News: “We’ve always worked collaboratively with local mayors and will continue to do so.”

OTHER IMPACTED MUNCIPALITIES

CTV reached out Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie, who was at the podium with Minister Clark during the announcement. He did not reply to our request for comment but on June 19, his statement was posted to the City of Guelph's website.

It reads in part: "No one mayor knows everything about every issue that comes before them. A strong Guelph requires a strong team."

Guthrie added that he's encouraged to see council working collaboratively toward 18,000 new homes by 2023.

He did, however, say that he agrees with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario's position that the powers may help and can be an additional tool on housing.

We also reached out to Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis. His communications team said they hope to provide a statement but we have not yet received it.