The ''Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022'' () is a statute in
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
that grants extra powers to the
Mayor of Toronto
The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the Municipal government of Toronto, municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; t ...
and the mayors of other designated municipalities within their
mayor–council government
A mayor–council government is a system of local government in which a mayor who is directly elected by the voters acts as chief executive, while a separately elected city council constitutes the legislative body. It is one of the two most comm ...
s.
Powers granted
Previously, all Ontario mayors had little to no direct unilateral power, with the role largely limited to chairing council meetings, appointing committee chairs and performing ceremonial duties. All decisions had to be approved by council via a majority vote. Mayors generally did have considerable soft power in terms of influence over council, however they could still be overruled if a majority of council disagreed with their actions. This system can be defined as a "weak-mayor" system.
Under the Act, the provincial government could designate municipalities to use an alternative "strong-mayor" system. Under this, the mayors of designated municipalities would be granted direct control over the following matters:
* Drafting of the city budgets, which would normally done by a council committee
* The appointment and dismissal of
city manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...
s and department leaders (except for police chiefs, fire chiefs, and auditors general)
* The creation, dissolution and reorganisation of municipal administrative departments
*
Veto power
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto p ...
over by-laws that may conflict with priorities defined by the provincial government, which may be overridden by a two-thirds
supermajority
A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fun ...
of council
Initially, the cities designated under this system included
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
and
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
. This was later expanded to include numerous other municipalities.
In terms of Toronto, the "strong-mayor" powers are defined directly in the
City of Toronto Act and can only be revoked by an
Act of Provincial Parliament.
As for other municipalities, the designation is done by
Order-in-Council
An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...
and defined in regulation, meaning the "strong-mayor" powers can granted or revoked by the provincial government at will.
The "provincial priorities" which relate to the mayor's veto power are also defined in regulation.
Expansion (''Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022'')
On December 8, 2022, the Ontario legislature passed the ''Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022'', which expanded the "strong-mayor" powers. Particularly, it added the ability to pass a by-law with only one-third support of council if it relates to priorities defined by the provincial government.
The ability to pass certain by-laws with only one-third support of council was criticized by political experts as being highly undemocratic, noting that no other established democracy is known to have a mechanism which allows for laws to be passed with only minority legislative approval.
Reactions
John Tory, the mayor of Toronto at the time, expressed appreciation for the powers granted to him under the act.
All five living former Toronto mayors,
David Crombie,
David Miller,
Barbara Hall,
Art Eggleton
Arthur C. Eggleton (born September 29, 1943) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 59th and longest-serving mayor of Toronto from 1980 to 1991. He was elected to Parliament in 1993, running as a Liberal in York Centre and served ...
and
John Sewell, wrote a letter to Tory describing the new powers as an "attack" on local democracy and majority rule.
The Ford government defended the new powers by pointing out the mayor's "city-wide mandate", having received more votes than the rest of council.
Outgoing Ottawa mayor
Jim Watson deemed the powers unnecessary, also opining that "if they have to gather up two-thirds of their members to overturn a mayor's decision that's not really democratic at all." Mayoral candidate
Catherine McKenney also criticised the reforms as "undemocratic."
Former Hamilton mayor
Bob Bratina expressed support for the powers.
Andrea Horwath
Andrea Lynn Horwath (; born October 24, 1962) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 58th List of mayors of Hamilton, Ontario, mayor of Hamilton since 2022. Horwath served as the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) from 200 ...
, a mayoral candidate, opposed the powers.
, the then-mayor of
Mississauga
Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...
, voiced opposition to the Act. Despite this, in October 2023 she would invoke the one-third power to pass a bill permitting the construction of fourplexes.
Designated municipalities
All municipalities (except for Toronto) are defined in O. Reg. 530/22.
* Town of Ajax
* Town of Aurora
* City of Barrie
* City of Belleville
* Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury
* City of Brampton
* City of Brantford
* City of Burlington
* Town of Caledon
* City of Cambridge
* Municipality of Chatham-Kent
* Municipality of Clarington
* Town of East Gwillimbury
* Town of Georgina
* City of Greater Sudbury
* City of Guelph
* Town of Halton Hills
* City of Hamilton
* Town of Innisfil
* City of Kawartha Lakes
* City of Kingston
* City of Kitchener
* City of London
* City of Markham
* Town of Milton
* City of Mississauga
* City of Niagara Falls
* City of North Bay
* Town of Oakville
* City of Oshawa
* City of Ottawa
* City of Peterborough
* City of Pickering
* City of Richmond Hill
* City of Sarnia
* City of Sault Ste Marie
* City of St Catharines
* City of Thunder Bay
* City of Toronto (under the
City of Toronto Act)
* City of Vaughan
* City of Waterloo
* City of Welland
* Town of Whitby
* Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville
* City of Windsor
* City of Woodstock
References
{{reflist
External links
''Bill 3''
2022 in Canadian law
Ontario provincial legislation
Premiership of Doug Ford
Local government in Ontario
Local government legislation