Strong mayor powers top of mind for council

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Much of Tuesday morning's session of council concentrated on the strong mayor powers assigned to Mayor Dave Barton earlier this year by the government of Premier Doug Ford.

There was a report from clerk Debbie Leroux giving an overview of the strong mayor powers and what they mean to Uxbridge. That was followed by a report from Barton on delegating authority under the strong mayor powers. Then came a report from treasurer Tobi Lee on the upcoming budget discussions in which she noted that the Strong Mayor Powers legislation requires the mayor to propose the Township’s budget, subject to amendments by council, a mayoral veto and a council override process.

And finally, council passed a bylaw delegating authority to Chief Administrative Officer Kristi Honey for the hiring, dismissal, performance management, and organizational oversight of officers of the corporation, including statutory officers.

A few councillors expressed concerns about the strong mayor powers. Councillor Zed Pickering said the strong mayor powers were “very concerning” to him, and that they “were not in good nature with how we were elected, or why we’re here, or what we serve.” He added that he considered council to have “a good mayor in the seat,” and that he would be worried if council was not in that position. Councillor Willie Popp also expressed that he said he had “some reservations about strong mayor,” but said that he had less reservations about it within the Township of Uxbridge.

When councillors were informed there would be an education session to answer all their questions regarding the legislation, Pickering asked that the public also be invited to attend an information session as well. Instead, council voted to have staff prepare an information package for the public.

When asked who was authorized to hire and fire before the above-mentioned bylaw was passed, Barton said it was Honey. He said the authority was passed to him under the strong mayors legislation, but he was returning it to Honey, hence the bylaw.

Despite the reservations expressed, members of council stressed that they all work as a team. They voted unanimously to accept the recommendations of both reports.

On a related issue, council had no discussion. Correspondence from the Town of Aurora, which was sent to the Ontario government and all 444 municipalities in the province, was a resolution that explained the municipality's opposition to Bill 17, Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025.

It said, in part: "Whereas the legislation raises significant concerns related to democratic governance, environmental sustainability, municipal autonomy, and social equity; and whereas the legislation centralizes decision-making authority and reduces the power of local municipalities in planning and development approvals," and went on to recommend "restoring municipal autonomy and ensuring meaningful consultation and decision-making power."

Council voted to receive the correspondence.