New strong mayor powers will give councillors less influence. Here is why some candidates still want the job

Toronto City Hall is seen in this undated photo. (Craig Wadman/CTV News)

With no incumbent on the ballot in Ward 10 Spadina Fort-York, Ausma Malik saw it as an opportunity to step up and run for councillor in the hopes of bringing a new and diverse voice to city council.

“I want to be able to serve my community even more and better in this role. And to make sure that we finish what we started,” Malik told CP24.com last week.

The former Toronto District School Board trustee is back knocking on doors and handing out flyers as she seeks to claim the seat left by former Coun. Joe Cressy. She previously ran for office in Toronto’s last municipal election in 2018. However, in the middle of the election campaign, Premier Doug Ford slashed the number of council seats from 47 to 25, which ended Malik’s bid

Four years later Ford, who got a second majority mandate in a spring vote, introduced legislation in the midst of another municipal campaign that would give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa more authority over city matters.

The bill that passed in September gives mayors powers to veto bylaws that would conflict with provincial priorities, such as getting housing built more quickly.

For Malik, she sees it as Ford’s way to meddle with Toronto’s affairs once again.

“This is more about strengthening the premier’s control over the city rather than strengthening the mayor’s say in the city’s affairs,” she said.

“I saw firsthand the results of Doug Ford’s meddling in our local democracy when he cut down the size of council to 25 seats. And that has made it more challenging to be able to have equitable representation in Toronto.”

• How Ontario's strong mayor powers work

One of Malik’s priorities, listed on her campaign website, is to strengthen local democracy, vowing to keep the province from interfering in the city’s decision-making process.

She says that’s why it’s more important for residents to elect effective and strong representatives.

“We need someone who is going to fight for our neighbourhoods and the big decisions that we have coming up, regardless of who the mayor is,” Malik said.

She adds that the new mayoral powers Ford created have not discouraged her from continuing her campaign. Malik had already submitted her nomination papers months before the legislation was announced.

“It actually made me even more determined to be the strongest, most capable and experienced representative to be able to hit the ground running and take action for our community on day one,” she said.

“They can count on me to fight for our local democracy to strengthen it and to make sure that their voice and their concerns are at the top of our agenda, not just the premier’s.”

Municipalities in Ontario are operating under a “weak mayor” system, meaning the mayor only represents one vote in city council matters. However, under the new system, in addition to the veto powers, the mayor will have the ability to prepare and table the city’s budget instead of council and appoint a city manager.

The mayor will also have the authority to hire department heads and appoint committee chairs.

For Alejandra Bravo, who is hoping to be the new representative for Ward 9 Davenport, she is concerned about how the legislation is going to change how the city council functions in the next term.

“I think it’s, once again, the provincial government interfering in municipalities during a period of elections without any kind of input or consultation from the people that are going to be most effective, which are the residents of Toronto and the residents of municipalities in Ontario,” Bravo told CP24.com in an interview last week.

“I know the rationale hasn’t been clear. And it’s really changing the relationship on council, centralizing power in the mayor’s office, reducing the powers of individual councillors to set policy, particularly around the budget.”

That’s why the longtime Davenport resident and community advocate wants candidates running for mayor to give an overview of their budget priorities.

“The mayor will have these powers and I expect the mayoral candidates to tell us how they’re going to use them in relation to the city budget. I think the people of Toronto deserve to know that before they go to the polls,” Bravo said.

In Ward 13, longtime school trustee Chris Moise is campaigning to be Toronto Centre’s new councillor. The ward is one of the seven that have no incumbents running for re-election.

For Moise, the new strong mayor powers came as a surprise and a bit of a “curveball.”

“Because Doug Ford, in 2018, did not mention at any point in time during his campaign that he was actually looking at changing the configuration of council, and in this particular case, it’s around the mayoralty powers for Toronto and Ottawa. So again, that came as a surprise to me, and I think everybody else around the city,” Moise said, speaking to CP24.com last week.

But now, after looking into the legislation, Moise feels optimistic about the system.

He believes that there will be more accountability in city hall.

“I think with the new proposal, if staff are not doing their jobs, the mayor can dismiss them or keep them. So, I think in that regard it is more accountability,” Moise said.

Same goes for the mayor, Moise noted. With the onus on the mayor, especially preparing the budget, he or she will be held responsible for his or her decisions.

“I think that makes (the mayor) more accountable. It makes staff more accountable to him because I find right now, the way things are in the system, a lot of things have fallen through the cracks,” Moise said.

He points out that under the legislation, two-thirds of council could still override any of the mayor’s vetoes.

“I’m trying to keep an open mind about this process. It’s new. And I will proceed with caution around it,” he said.

“All we can do is look forward and try to work with this new regulation that’s now come forth.”

The legislation is set to take effect on Nov. 15. Ford has said that he plans to expand the powers to more municipalities.

Election day in Toronto is on Oct. 24.