London City Council is the governing body of the city of

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

, Canada.

Composition

London is divided into 14 wards, with residents in each ward electing one

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

is elected citywide, who along with the councillors forms a 15-member council.

2017 reform

In spite of some controversy about this move, London was the first city in Canada (in May 2017) to decide to move a ranked choice ballot for municipal elections starting in 2018. Voters will mark their ballots in order of preference, ranking their top three favourite candidates. An individual must reach 50 per cent of the total to be declared elected; in each round of counting where a candidate has not yet reached that target, the person with the fewest votes is dropped from the ballot and their second or third choice preferences reallocated to the remaining candidates, with this process repeating until a candidate has reached 50 per cent. On November 20, 2020, the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 218, the Supporting Ontario's Recovery and Municipal Elections Act, which included an amendment to the 1996 Municipal Elections Act to ban ranked balloting from being used in Ontario municipalities. This move was symbolically opposed in October by a 14-1 vote by City Council.

2010 reform

Prior to the 2006 civic election, London's city council consisted of 14 councillors (two from each of the seven former wards), four members of Board of Control (elected citywide), and one mayor (elected citywide), to form a 19-member council. The composition and structure of city council was the subject of two questions on the 2003 election ballot, an action initiated by Ward 3 Councillor Fred Tranquilli and his discussion paper, ''A Better Way'', which proposed a smaller city council with 10 wards (one councillor per ward), plus the mayor elected citywide and the elimination of Board of Control for an 11-member city council. While the ''yes'' votes prevailed, the overall voter turnout was less than 50 per cent and according to the provisions of the ''

Municipal Act The ''Municipal Act, 2001'' (the Act) is the main statute governing the creation, administration and government of municipalities in the Canadian province of Ontario, other than the City of Toronto. After being passed in 2001, it came into force o ...

'', the referendum results were not binding. When council decided to maintain the status quo, a grassroots citizens' activism group,

Imagine London Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon ...

, appealed to the

Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was an independent administrative board, operated as an adjudicative tribunal, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It heard applications and appeals on municipal and planning disputes, as well as other matters sp ...

(OMB) to change the ward composition to 14 wards defined by communities of interest in the city, including a separate ward for the downtown core. UWO law librarian and media professor Sam Trosow argued the case at the OMB for Imagine London arguing that smaller wards based on communities of interest would result in more "effective representation" for the

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...

. This argument is based on a 1991

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

decision involving electoral boundaries in the Province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

(often cited as the "Carter" case). The OMB ruled for the Imagine London petitioners in late December 2005 and while the city sought leave to appeal the OMB decision to Superior Court via a full-day hearing in January 2006, leave to appeal was denied when Justice McDermid released his decision on February 28, 2006. In the 2006 municipal election, a number of candidates included in their platforms the abolition of Board of Control. Among them was Gina Barber, a member of Imagine London, who gained a seat on the board of control, coming in second only to the deputy mayor,

Tom Gosnell Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

. Following the election, a task force composed of a number of councillors, controllers, and citizen representatives was established to make recommendations on governance. The task force held numerous meetings and public hearings. On the basis of its deliberations, it recommended that the board of control be abolished and its functions assumed by a combination of standing committees, delegation to staff and citizen groups and Committee of the Whole. The recommendations were placed before a public participation meeting and subsequently adopted by council in a vote of 14 to 5. Consequently, positions for Board of Control were not on the 2010 municipal ballot.

1994-1997

Council elected in the 1994 municipal election.

1997-2000

Council elected in the 1997 municipal election.

2000-2003

Council elected in the 2000 municipal election.

2003-2006

Council elected in the 2003 municipal election.

2006-2010

Council elected in the 2006 municipal election.

2010-2014

Council elected in the 2010 municipal election.

2014-2018

Council elected in the 2014 municipal election.

2018-2022

Council elected in the 2018 municipal election.

2022-2026

Council elected in the 2022 municipal election.

City Halls

* 1928–1971: a four-storey building at the corner of Dundas Street and Wellington added to the Public Utilities Commission Building c. 1918; it is now a commercial building at 272-274 Dundas Street * 1971–present: located at 300 Dufferin Avenue, a 12-storey Modernist office block built by local architect Philip Carter Johnson

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Municipal councils in Ontario Municipal government of London, Ontario