Count us out.
Deep River council doesn’t appear to be on board with the town being included on the list of municipalities granted “strong mayor” powers by the provincial government.
Ontario is proposing to expand “strong mayor” powers to the heads of council in 169 additional municipalities effective May 1.
Here in Renfrew County, the municipalities eligible for “strong mayor” powers include Deep River, Pembroke, Petawawa, Arnprior, the town of Renfrew and the townships of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards.
The province says the move is aimed at helping to deliver on provincial priorities, such as building more homes, transit, roads and infrastructure in Ontario.
The enhanced powers include giving mayors the right to appoint chief administrative officers and proposing certain municipal bylaws if the mayor is of the opinion they could potentially advance a provincial priority identified in the regulations.
Mayors would also have the authority to “propose” the municipal budget, and to veto council bylaws if they felt that “all or part of the bylaw could potentially interfere with a provincial priority.”
Ontario’s “strong mayor” powers, initially introduced for Ottawa and Toronto in 2022, have been gradually rolled out across the province, and 47 municipalities currently have the powers.
The province says the enhanced powers have helped to “cut red tape and accelerate the delivery of key priorities in their communities.”
But Deep River council put the brakes on the idea when a letter from Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack announcing the expansion of the powers to the town was discussed at last week’s meeting.
“A large number of municipalities want to have their municipalities removed from that list,” Councillor Will Fitton said.
“I think we should consider being on that bandwagon.”
Councillor Terry Myers took it a step further, calling it “blatantly undemocratic” that, in Deep River’s case, bylaws could be passed by just three members of council, the mayor included, instead of by the majority of council’s seven members…
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