TORONTO – Stronger mayors, with more powers: in the end the government led by Doug Ford really did it. After the rumors leaked in recent weeks, today came the official presentation of the new legislation entitled “Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act”, formally illustrated in Queen’s Park. 

The goal, according to the intentions of Prime Minister Ford, is to allow the first citizens – but only those of Toronto and Ottawa – to reduce the time for the development of housing, standardize processes and overcome the “local barriers”: wider powers, therefore, which will give the mayors the exclusive responsibility of preparing the municipal budget for the approval of the council, as well as the possibility of vetoing certain decisions taken by the councilors in the event of “provincial priorities”.

Ford, however, today did not provide further details on this point: that is, he did not specify what the “provincial priorities” may be. One, arguably, is the government’s intention to build 1.5 million homes over the next decade. Others could be “critical infrastructure around road transit and things of that nature”, as a government official said on the sidelines of today’s presentation. In fact, it will still be up to the mayor to decide what a “provincial priority” is: he will in fact determine if the regulation he is canceling actually interferes with a “provincial priority”. Its veto can only be overruled by a two/thirds city council vote.

In addition to the veto power, the new legislation also provides a number of other new and strengthened powers to the mayors of Ontario’s two largest cities. Early citizens, for example, will have the exclusive authority to appoint a Chief Administrative Officer, hire firefighters, and create or reorganize departments. These powers, however, would not apply to statutory appointments, such as those of the chief of police or chief medical officer.

The bill, if approved, would go into effect at the beginning of the next legislature, on November 15.

Speaking with CP24 today, Toronto Mayor John Tory said that even with strengthened powers his approach to being mayor “won’t change” if re-elected in October. “From my point of view, this will not change the way I do my job which is to collaborate with every single member of the city council who wants to work with me and continue to do so. But I also want to find all possible ways to do things faster, to get more housing, built faster, and to ensure that the transit plan we have agreed upon is actually implemented”.

Photo from Twitter – @fordnation