Randall Denley: Ontario’s weakening of local powers assumes the province always knows best. It doesn’t

Ontario has long operated on the principle that people would have a meaningful measure of control over what was happening in their own communities, but under Premier Doug Ford, writes NP columnist Randall Denley, local control has lessened and in some cases disappeared altogether. Photo is from announcement near intersection of the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway on Thursday June 4. Photo by Peter Power /Peter Power

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford has altered the scope and nature of local democracy in the province in what amounts to a major change in the traditional relationship between the provincial government and its cities and school boards.

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While the provincial government has always been ultimately responsible for school boards and municipalities, Ontario has long operated on the principle that people would have a meaningful measure of control over what was happening in their own communities.

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Under Ford, that local control has lessened, and in some cases disappeared altogether. The changes have been incremental and spread over time, but the cumulative effect is notable.

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In its latest move, the Ford government will appoint the chairs of eight regional municipalities in southern Ontario. These are positions that were formerly elected, although in three cases, people had been appointed to the jobs for the 2022–26 term only.

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These unelected regional chairs will have the same “strong mayor” powers that Ford gave elected mayors across the province a couple of years ago. This will give the new chairs significant authority over the elected people on regional councils.

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The appointed chairs will be able to propose budgets, veto changes that regional councillors want to make, appoint or fire many city officials, and veto council decisions if those decisions would slow down action on a provincial priority such as infrastructure or housing construction.

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Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack has said the move is necessary to have “effective government” and it would be “getting politicians out of the way.”

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Lindsay Jones, executive director of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, has called the strong chair powers “fundamentally undemocratic” because they allow unelected people to overrule elected councillors.

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The strong mayor system is a concentration of power in one person. Ontario is unique in Canada for having them, although many large American cities do.

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Ford has certainly gone all in on the concept. He began by giving strong mayor powers to Toronto and Ottawa with the goal of speeding up housing approvals. Then he expanded that control to largish cities and ultimately to every municipality in the province, even tiny townships.

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The enhanced powers for mayors changed the traditional balance on councils, where mayors had to build consensus to win a majority vote. Councillors have not lost all control. Mayoral vetoes can still be overturned by a two-thirds majority council vote.

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When it comes to housing, the strong mayor system isn’t producing much of a result. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. predicts that housing starts in the province will decline in 2026 for the fifth year in a row. It’s interesting to note that the city of Ottawa had one of the strongest housing-start performances in the province last year, although Mayor Mark Sutcliffe does not use his strong mayor powers.