New details show how veto control of Ontario's strong mayor powers works
The Ontario government has released proposed regulations for its so-called ‘strong mayor’ legislation that reveal when a veto can be used.
The proposed regulations, which were posted Monday, build on Premier Doug Ford’s pitch that Bill 3 will enable municipalities to build housing more quickly.
The legislation gives the mayors of Ontario’s two largest cities—Toronto and Ottawa—veto powers over bylaws that conflict with “provincial priorities,” with an emphasis on housing development.
However, until now those priorities had been left undefined.
According to the proposed regulations, those priorities now include the Progressive Conservatives’ pledge to build 1.5 million new residential units by 2031, as well as any construction and maintenance of infrastructure that supports housing. This can include items such as transit, roads and utilities.
The regulations also allow the veto to apply to development charge bylaws, which municipalities sometimes impose on land developers to pay for costs associated with related capital projects such as transit, parks, and other maintenance services.
In addition to the veto powers, Bill 3 gives the mayor the ability to control the city’s budget; something that typically has been the responsibility of council as a whole.
The proposed regulations say the mayor’s budget must be complete by Feb. 1 or else the duty to prepare and adopt the budget will transfer to council.
In the event that a mayor does propose a budget, council has 30 days to amend it.
“The (mayor) has 10 days from the end of the council review period to veto a council resolution,” the regulations say. “Council may then override a (mayor’s) veto with a 2/3 majority vote within 15 days.”
“At the end of this process, the resulting budget is deemed to be adopted by the municipality.”
Many of the other regulations include slight administrative changes to the legislation, which would allow mayors to hire and fire department heads and appointment chairs for council committees.
The legislation is set to go into effect on Nov. 15 after the regulations are approved—just in time for the start of a new council term.
The bill itself passed in early September.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.