'Worst possible thing to happen to local government': Mississauga councillors opposed to Premier Doug Ford's 'strong mayor' plan

Thestar.com
July 28, 2022

While few details are available on what a possible change to a “strong mayor” system could mean, multiple Mississauga city councillors are not supportive of potentially giving the head of council more power.

Premier Doug Ford confirmed that the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa and possibly other major Ontario cities would be granted more powers, including the ability to veto a council decision.

The move would align major city Ontario mayors, possibly including Mississauga, with U.S.-style mayoral powers that allow heads of council to veto decisions, hire municipal staff and to have more control over budgets.

In a statement, Ward 9 Coun. Pat Saito says she’s “totally opposed” to giving mayors more power and doing so would be "a move away from a democratic government.”

“The best thing about municipal government is the fact that each councillor has one vote and can advocate for their community equally,” says Saito, who has announced her retirement from council at the end of this term.

“I am sure most mayors would love to have total power, but I feel it would be the worst possible thing to happen to local government.”

In a statement, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie says she’s “very interested” in learning about what changes are coming to mayoral powers in Toronto and Ottawa and that she has long been in favour of municipal reform that reflects the increasing responsibilities big cities have such as tackling climate change and housing affordability.

Crombie, who is running for re-election this fall, says she’s asked Ford to include Mississauga in the conversation for potential new powers.

“My desire would, of course, be to continue the consensus building that Mississauga council has a long history of doing on a wide variety of issues, with any special powers being reserved for cases where decisive action is needed,” she says.

Currently, Ontario mayors are empowered under the Municipal Act to preside over meetings, represent their city at official events and “provide leadership” to council, among other duties.

Mayors are often paid more than their council colleagues and also have more resources for staff to generate initiatives.

However, mayors have the same voting powers -- a single vote -- as a councillor on all matters before city council.

Ford told reporters the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa would be given more powers in their next term, including the ability to veto council decisions, and the province would consider doing the same for other major cities later.

He also says council could overrule the mayor with a two-thirds majority.

“I just think that the mayor of Toronto or Ottawa, or any mayor, they’re accountable for everything, but they have the same single vote as a single councillor,” Ford told reporters July 20.

The Mississauga News asked a spokesperson from Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark’s office why the province was moving to enhance mayoral powers.

“We know that today in Ontario, too many families are frozen out of the housing market,” says Clark's spokesperson Chris Poulos in a statement. “That’s why we have a plan to build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years and continue to explore ways to help municipalities get more homes built faster.”

“To use housing as a reason is ridiculous,” says Ward 5 Coun. Carolyn Parrish in a statement to the Mississauga News. “Housing approvals go through a lengthy process laid out in the Municipal Planning Act, which is solely the prerogative of the province to adjust.”

She says enhancing mayoral powers would “put partisan politics into local government overnight” and that what municipalities really need are more ways to raise operating funds other than property taxes, which Parrish called “regressive.”

In an interview with the Mississauga News, retired political science professor Andrew Sancton said that while it’s unclear what powers the Ford government might give Ontario mayors, the most important could be control over hiring city staff, a feature of strong mayor systems in U.S. cities.

Senior city staff, such as the city manager and commissioners in Mississauga, currently answer to and are hired by all of council. The city manager and commissioners play major roles in informing and implementing council decisions.

“It would be regularized that if you got a new mayor in a municipality with a strong mayor that the department heads would be expected to submit their resignation or would no longer be in office, and then the mayor would hire his or her own people,” Sancton says. “That would very much disrupt the normal way of doing things.”

Longtime Ward 2 Coun. Pat Mullen, who was appointed this year to replace departing councillor Karen Ras, says she’s also concerned about potentially enhancing the mayor’s powers.

“I think to suggest in any shape or form that a mayor would have powers that would override any decision, I think would be completely wrong,” she says. “And I think the residents of Mississauga would not in any way, shape or form support that.”

The Mississauga News asked all 12 council members to comment on the potential move to enhance the city’s mayoral powers, but only Crombie, Mullin, Parrish, Saito and Ward 4 Coun. John Kovac responded.

In an email, Kovac says he’s waiting for more information on the province’s plan before commenting.

Further details about the Ford government’s plan are expected in the coming weeks.