(Credit: Josh Morgan) London Mayor Josh Morgan is set to receive additional ‘strong mayor powers’ from the Ontario government.
The Ontario government has announced that they’re adding 26 cities, including London, to the list of municipalities that are being granted strong mayor powers.
This now brings the total list of cities in Ontario with these powers to 28, with just Ottawa and Toronto previously having the same access.
“The 26 municipalities that are set to receive these powers are among the largest and fastest growing in our province,” says Steve Clark, the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
“Our government is determined to ensure that these municipalities are set up for success and that they have the necessary tools to deliver on the housing commitments that they’ve made.”
The 26 additional municipalities are cities with a total population over 100-thousand, or growing to that number by 2031, and have submitted a housing pledge to the province.
“The expansion of strong mayor powers is another step that our government’s taking,” says Clark.
“Like our previous housing Supply Action Plans and Strong Mayors Building Homes Act to help communities get shovels in the ground faster by cutting red tape, delivering growth, and confronting Ontario’s housing supply crisis, has to be done with bold action.”
For the added cities, this means their mayors will have access to additional powers, with some larger powers including:
- The power to establish or dissolve Committees.
- The power to hire or dismiss a “head of any division or the head of any other part of the organizational structure.”
- The power to veto Council amendments up to 10 days after Council adopts the amendment
- The power to propose city budgets
- The power for the Mayor to veto a by-law if they believe it could potentially interfere with a prescribed provincial priority
All of that being said, city councils within these municipalities can still override these strong mayor powers by a two-thirds majority vote.
(Credit: Cameron Kroetsch) The Ontario government’s announcement has garnered attention due to which cities were included and which weren’t.
“I think every mayor’s going to approach these powers very differently,” says London Mayor Josh Morgan. “The first step that I’m going to take is, I’m going to sit down with our city manager and look at the full sweet of powers.”
The announcement by the Ontario government has garnered attention due to the focus on cities that agreed to the housing pledge put forward, as well as the cities that aren’t on the list because they didn’t agree.
Thunder Bay, Chatham-Kent, as well as Sudbury, are a few of the municipalities left out from receiving strong mayor powers, with Clark specifying that they only offered the powers to cities that agreed to their housing pledge.
Many also fear that this announcement will take away from the powers of municipal officials and displays a reward-based system for municipalities that side with the provincial government, with Hamilton Ward 2 City Councillor, Cameron Kroetsch, saying, “This kind of quid pro quo politics is disgusting.”
Morgan addresses some of these concerns, saying that he still intends to work closely with those in his administration.
“I can tell you I’ve had great success in achieving consensus of my council and that’s always the approach that I’m going to take on most issues to ensure that the will of all the elected councilors across the city, their voices are heard in the discussion and debate.”
Strong mayor powers were put into effect for Ottawa and Toronto in 2022, with the additional 26 cities gaining this designation on July 1, 2023.
