Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Burlington mayor delegates some ‘strong mayor powers’ to others

First Published:

Burlington mayor Marianne Meed Ward is handing over some of her strong mayor powers that Premier Doug Ford gave all city mayors who agreed to meet the province’s housing targets.

Some on the council say the move isn’t enough.

“The key to having a fulsome democracy here in Ontario is that majority rule comes first,” said Rory Nisan, City of Burlington’s deputy mayor and Ward 3 councillor.

Nisan doesn’t believe strong mayor powers are good for democracy.

“There have been 17 mayoral decisions, there are a couple that are more significant, the mayor chose to use the strong mayor powers to appoint the new city manager, who is going to be a great choice so there are no issues there what so ever,” Deputy Mayor Nisan said.

READ MORE: Burlington city council requests mayor delegates some strong mayor powers

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said the hiring of Burlington’s new CAO was open, transparent and fully involved councillors.

“There was a public posting, open call for applicants, the council determined the roles the skill set and job description, the council selected the short list of applicants, and participated in interviews,” said Mayor Meed Ward, “at the end of that process, yes I had to sign a decision to action that process, but I did not unilaterally hire the new city manager.”

In March, Nisan drafted a motion asking the mayor to delegate some of her “strong mayor powers”, which the mayor did.

“There were three that could be handed over, the rest can’t, one is the ability to select a CAO, we’ve already done through a collaborative process so I didn’t hand that over,” said Mayor Meed Ward.

WATCH MORE: Burlington mayor clears up issue surrounding her ‘strong mayor powers’

The Burlington mayor explained her move in a post on social media on Wednesday, but Nisan thinks the mayor needs to do more.

“The statement yesterday was a bit confusing at times, the idea that delegating these powers is performative, I have to disagree with because it sets a standard or norm of behaviour that the mayor will listen to the majority will of council and that we can make a decision as a majority. It’s the most fundamental principle of democracy,” said Deputy Mayor Nisan.

Other local mayors like Mat Siscoe in St.Catharines, have handed over their strong mayor powers, while Andrea Horwath in Hamilton is using hers to push through a housing development. Something Meed Ward said she would consider if it benefitted her community.

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