Strong mayor powers to be expanded to more cities: Ford

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The Ontario government will provide “strong mayor” tools to other municipalities across the province, Premier Doug Ford says.

In a speech Monday to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), Ford said his government will not stop at just Ottawa and Toronto in its plan to give mayors more authority to power through provincial priorities like housing.

“The Strong Mayors Building Homes Act will provide Toronto and Ottawa with the additional tools needed to advance provincial priorities, but building more homes is at the top of the list,” Ford said. “In the coming months, we’ll have more information on how these tools will be expanded to other municipalities so more municipal leaders like yourselves can help build Ontario.”

However, a joint op-ed piece by five former mayors says the provincial legislation would give a mayor too much power.

Signed by former Toronto mayors David Miller, Barbara Hall, Art Eggleton, John Sewell and David Crombie, the article in the Toronto Star argued that giving the mayor the authority to approve budgets, make all significant appointments, and hire and fire city staff would undermine the role of regular city councillors and the democratic rights of local voters who elected them.

The legislation would, in effect, give provincial governments — influenced by party politics, “slavish adherence to the party leader” and polling — far more control over municipalities, the former mayors said.

The Strong Mayors legislation, Bill 3, was introduced last week and is expected to pass as the Ford government has a majority.

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Ford said the province plans to address the housing crisis by increasing supply, and needs all levels of government to work together to build homes.

“For our part, we’re providing more resources to speed up municipal processes,” he said. “We’re investing $350 million in programs designed to cut red tape for municipalities and streamline the planning and development approval processes.

“We’re working with municipalities to crack down on land speculation and protect homebuyers from those who are trying to take advantage of them.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory, who is running for a third term of office, has supported the Strong Mayor model.

Currently, the mayor must run across the city in the election but gets the same single vote on council as a councillor who has been elected in one of Toronto’s 25 wards.

Former Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty provided the Toronto mayor with some additional powers.

aartuso@postmedia.com