MAPLETON – Strong mayor powers are not supported by Mapleton’s council.
The township is joining other municipalities in expressing its opposition to strong mayor powers.
The powers give mayors the ability to veto certain bylaws, to pass bylaws with just a third of council’s support and to override council on budget decisions, among other powers.
Mapleton was not included in the recent proposed expansion of strong mayor powers to all mayors on councils of more than five people, including Centre Wellington and Minto, effective May 1 if passed.
But Mapleton council members want to make it clear they aren’t interested in strong mayor powers.
Councillor Amanda Reid suggested council write a letter expressing its opposition and send it to Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Rob Flack, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae, the Rural Ontario Municipal Association and all Wellington County municipalities.
Council voted unanimously in favour of sending the letter during a regular meeting on April 22.
Reid noted her suggestion to pen the letter was not a slight against “anyone who sits around this table – it’s just the democracy that follows suit with those changes.”
Councillor Marlene Ottens said she feels that “strong mayor powers is not the way for municipalities to go because it removes all of the democratic process from this horseshoe and I don’t think that’s a wise path.”
Councillor Michael Martin said while he understands, “in some respects, some parts of the rationale for strong mayor powers, when it comes to housing and all that stuff I don’t understand it.”
He pointed to Orillia as an example of somewhere that “strong mayor powers kind of fall of the wheels a little bit.
“So I think the motivation might be pure in some respects but I think it’s just gotten to a place where they’ve lost me,” added Martin.
He said Mapleton council works well as a team and can be flexible when it needs to be.
And while he noted strong mayors have been used well at times in larger municipalities, “There just seems to be a real perception around what it means for democracy – and I think I agree with that … At this point it just doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense and I’m lost on where the need is for it.”
Mayor Gregg Davidson called the recent proposal to expand strong mayor powers “a complete surprise to everyone,” noting he spoke with Centre Wellington Mayor Shawn Watters and Minto Mayor Dave Turton.
Their municipalities have entirely different sizes, he noted (Minto’s population was about 9,100 in 2021 while Centre Wellington’s was 31,100, according to Statistics Canada).
Davidson called the minimum of six members of council “an interesting line they drew, because it could be a small community of 2,000 people that have seven council members and they’re getting strong mayor powers.
“It’s certainly interesting how they did it – and a total surprise. I know the last conversation I had with MPP Rae they weren’t going to do it to his recollection and then all of a sudden, as we changed ministers, we get this.”
And Davidson strongly suspects the recent proposal is not the last expansion to strong mayor powers in Ontario. “I think that we might see this move forward before our municipal election in 2026,” he said.
Township clerk Larry Wheeler and Davidson will work together to write the letter.
At least five other municipalities have sent similar letters, including the towns of Amherstburg, Tillsonburg, Saugeen Shores, Kingsville and Rideau Lakes.
