This law has nothing to do with housing'

Critics question use of new strong-mayor powers to hire, fire city staff

- NOOR JAVED

A tool Doug Ford’s government created to give mayors the power to build housing faster is being used in some Ontario municipalities to make unilateral staffing decisions that have little to do with the construction of new homes and more to do with the consolidation of power at a local level, critics say.

Although so-called “strong-mayor” powers were enacted in 2022, a flurry of a half-dozen decisions by newly elected Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish just days after she was sworn in — including the dismissal of the city manager and the hiring of other senior staff — has raised concerns about their use in municipalities and their impact on how cities operate across the province.

“This law has nothing to do with housing, but has everything to do with concentrating power in one person,” said Caledon Coun. David Sheen, who has been monitoring the use of strong-mayor powers in his town. “It’s hard to believe that was the province’s intention.”

After testing out the tool in Toronto and Ottawa in 2022, the province gave some 49 municipalities enhanced strong-mayor powers in 2023 with the aim of advancing such provincial priorities as housing and the construction of roads and transit.

The powers allow mayors to veto or bypass the rest of the local council while making decisions about the hiring or firing of senior staff, setting up or dissolving committees, setting the budget and vetoing any decision by council.

Dozens of orders have been enacted by mayors since, with the bulk of these being administrative issues.

In a few cases, such as pushing for fourplexes in Mississauga or approving a development in Hamilton, the strong-mayor powers have been used to advance housing initiatives.