ELORA – Centre Wellington council learned a little more about “strong mayor powers” and what it will mean for process and procedure in the coming year.
Eric Davis, a lawyer with SV Law, went over the changes at a Dec. 15 council meeting.
Mayor Shawn Watters received strong mayor powers from the province in April after the township was named one of 169 municipalities in the province to receive them.
To date, Watters hasn’t used them and has said he doesn’t intend to use them.
Still, some procedures and bylaws need to be updated and that was the task before council.
It’s a long list of new powers and requirements:
- mayoral decisions and directions made under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act must be in writing and must be circulated to council;
- a dedicated page will be created on the township website to post mayoral decisions and directions for the public to access;
- the mayor has the power to hire and fire the chief administrative officer (CAO), authority that used to be a decision of council. But the mayor can delegate that responsibility back to council through a mayoral decision;
- similarly, the mayor now has the authority to determine the organizational structure of the township and can hire and fire heads of departments, excluding statutory municipal officers such as clerk, deputy clerk, treasurer, deputy treasurer, chief building official, fire chief and the integrity commissioner. But he can delegate that responsibility back to the CAO through a mayoral decision;
- the mayor now has the authority to override council decisions if they go against provincial priorities such as transit, roads, utilities and servicing;
- the mayor has the power to introduce matters for council’s consideration without having to go through the normal process if the matter could advance a provincial priority. The mayor can also introduce bylaws and they require the support of just one-third of council (three votes in Centre Wellington) to be approved; and
- the mayor can veto a decision of council if he decides it interferes with provincial priorities. The mayor must also approve in writing, within 48 hours, bylaws passed by council. Council has 21 days to consider overriding a mayoral veto. Any override of a mayoral veto requires a two-third super majority vote (five councillors in Centre Wellington). The mayor is allowed to vote as a member of council in these situations.
There is also a statutory process for strong mayors when it comes to the annual budget.
According to the municipal act, the mayor must, by Feb. 1 of each year, prepare and propose a municipal budget for council consideration. The mayor may issue a mayoral direction to staff to prepare the budget.
Council has 30 days to meet and pass amendments to the budget.
There are also timeframes for the mayor to veto amendments by council and for council to attempt to override decisions of the mayor.
Council no longer votes on the budget; it is considered “adopted” once the timelines for comment and vetoes has passed.
This is quite different from the process used in Centre Wellington, where staff typically begin work on the budget in June and present aspects of it to council in September, October and November, before adoption in December.
“Township staff will work with the mayor on a … budget schedule, considering these new rules,” the report reads.
All this will necessitate changes to the procedural bylaw, council code of conduct, CAO performance evaluation process and the township’s recruitment process.
“Staff require more time to fully understand the legislation, best practices and options regarding impacts of strong mayor powers to the township and will make best efforts to provide this in a timely manner,” the report states.
“Given the anticipated effort required, this work will take precedence over other … business plan initiatives for both the office of the CAO and corporate services.”
CAO Dan Wilson told council Watters has delegated his powers back to the CAO, so as it stands now, nothing will change except the dedicated web page outlining mayoral decisions and directions.
Councillors were acutely aware, however, that 2026 is an election year and all this could potentially change if new individuals are elected.
“Mayor Watters has delegated (authority) back to staff but a new incoming mayor could have those powers back,” said councillor Bronwynne Wilton.
“I appreciate the collegial nature of this mayor, but we need to be aware with an election coming.”
