Ontario gives more 'strong mayor' powers to Toronto, Ottawa

TORONTO — Ontario is planning to extend further "strong mayor" powers to the leaders of Toronto and Ottawa, and is reviewing the role of regional governments in new legislation the opposition decries as anti-democratic.

The bill introduced Wednesday by Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark is part of the government's push to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years, and comes as its own projections for new home construction were revised downward this week.

"We know government bureaucracy and red tape can sometimes stand in the way of much-needed housing and we're taking steps to fix this problem," Clark said at a press conference.

Earlier this year, the government gave so-called strong mayor powers to Toronto and Ottawa, allowing their leaders to override council approval of a bylaw, such as a zoning bylaw, that would stymie the creation of more homes, and giving them responsibility for preparing and tabling their city's budget, instead of council, as well as hiring and firing department heads.

Wednesday's bill would also let those two mayors propose bylaws on provincial priorities such as housing and enable council to pass them if more than one-third of council members vote in favour.

Ottawa's new mayor, Mark Sutcliffe, has said he is not in favour of the strong mayor powers, but Clark said Premier Doug Ford is hoping to meet with Sutcliffe soon.

The legislation would also appoint "facilitators" to assess the regional governments in Durham, Halton, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York, and look at the best mix of roles between upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities with an eye to expanding strong mayor powers beyond Toronto and Ottawa.

"The six regions are large, their populations are around 500,000 or more, and represent some of Ontario's fastest-growing communities where increased housing supply is most desperately needed," Clark said.

"There's no sense giving someone strong mayor powers, and then have another level of government that stands in the way of getting shovels in the ground faster."

Clark said the purpose of the facilitators is not to consider amalgamations or recommend the elimination of some upper-tier municipality structures, but he said he won't "presuppose" the discussions that will take place.

The bill would also reappoint the existing regional chairs in Niagara, Peel and York.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the legislation is "a frontal attack" on councils' democratic processes.

"If you look at this bill, this is strong mayors on steroids and it's actually bringing in minority rule when it comes to affected councils," he said.

Jessica Bell, the NDP's housing critic, said nothing in the bill will address affordability.

"This bill is about bulldozing local decision-making so Premier Ford can wield more power," she said. "It is an affront to democracy."

Clark already has another housing bill before the legislature, which would in part freeze, reduce and exempt fees developers pay in order to spur building.

Municipalities have expressed concerns that would leave them without enough funding to construct supporting infrastructure, but Bell, who is on the committee currently considering that bill, said the government has not allowed several key people and organizations that applied to give presentations, including the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

"The government has severely curtailed how many people can speak to the bill," she said. "That doesn't lead to good legislation being passed."

Ontario's fall economic update from earlier this week showed that the province has revised projections for new home construction downward, but Clark said he still believes the province can hit the 1.5 million target.

By Allison Jones, The Canadian Press