Seguin Township council has rejected the strong mayors powers the Province of Ontario extended to the municipality on April 9.
At a special meeting on April 28, council unanimously passed a resolution requesting Seguin be excluded from the proposed provincial amendments that would give strong mayors powers to them, and 168 other municipalities across the province.
Many on council felt the powers had the potential to override the democratic process. Council’s resolution states that the adoption of Strong Mayor Powers “has the potential to undermine the role of our democratically elected councillors.”
Mayor Anne MacDairmid mentioned that she had no intention of using the powers, if they were to be granted.
The Township will be forwarding a copy of their resolution to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Premier Doug Ford, MPP Graydon Smith, and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), among others.
Ontario’s strong mayor powers, initially introduced for Toronto and Ottawa in 2022, have been gradually rolled out across the province. The province currently has 47 municipalities with these enhanced powers, which they say has helped to cut red tape and accelerate the delivery of key priorities in their communities.
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.