Burlington mayor Marianne Meed Ward asked to delegate some ‘strong mayor’ powers

The powers were automatically given to those cities that endorsed a municipal housing target pledge — which Burlington accepted last year, agreeing to a target of 29,000 homes by 2031.

“This is going to be something to pay attention to,” Taylor told the Burlington Post in a telephone interview before council’s unanimous approval of the motion brought forward by councillors Rory Nisan, Kelvin Galbraith, and Shawna Stolte.

The motion requests Meed Ward delegate those powers she is permitted to under the amended Municipal Act, including: appointing a chief administrative officer; appointing chairs and vice-chairs of local boards; creating, dissolving, assigning functions and appointing chairs and vice-chairs of council committees; hiring municipal division heads; and changing the organizational structure of the municipality.

Other powers or duties cannot be delegated, including proposing an annual municipal budget, and veto authority over bylaws a mayor believes will not advance a provincial priority, such as building more housing.

Included in the motion is a direction to city legal staff to consult external counsel on any current legal challenges to strong mayor power in Ontario, and “whether a legal challenge would have any chance of success.”

The motion was amended by adding further direction during a special council meeting on Tuesday, March 26.

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• Dec 31, 1969
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• Dec 31, 1969
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The approved motion directs the city clerk to report quarterly to council on the use of strong mayor powers, beginning in April 2024; that the city ask the province to amend the Municipal Act to remove strong mayor powers; and requests the mayor to “provide a clear and concrete decision on council’s request for her to delegate those powers she can, by the April 16 council meeting.”

All decisions made using strong mayor powers are posted on the city’s website.

Taylor said the amended provincial legislation that gave some mayors additional powers does not put “a lot of guardrails around mayors.”

He’s not surprised some councils, including Burlington, are “putting on the record — ‘here’s what we would like to see happen.’”

But he noted it’s “really up to the mayor” to decide what happens next.

“It would be useful for council and the mayor to create a set of rules around this, to create predictability,” Taylor said. “There’s no requirement for mayors to follow that, but it creates transparency for the public.”

He said setting those parameters for use of the strong mayor powers, or delegating what can be shifted to the city manager and council also “allows shared political accountability.”

Taylor said the “disingenuous” thing about the province’s strong mayor powers policy is the idea they are in place to get more housing built — but he said exercising those powers don’t necessarily help get any housing built faster, particularly in the face of the financial challenges faced by some building projects.

“It’s based on the premise, if you centralize powers there’s less talking, it will move more quickly,” Taylor said. “(But) there’s dozens of reasons housing isn’t built fast enough.”

In a statement released by the mayor within a few hours of Tuesday’s special council meeting, Meed Ward confirmed she will respond by the April 16 council meeting.

“I welcome council to make any requests of me they feel are important, and support council in making this request,” Meed Ward stated in the press release. “That is why I voted in favour of the motion that was approved unanimously by council today. I will take the time to give it the thoughtful consideration it deserves.”