Chatham-Kent getting strong mayor powers, like it or not

The provincial government is thrusting “strong mayor powers” ​​on Chatham-Kent, even though mayor and council have indicated more than once they’re not interested, officials say.

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North Kent Coun. Rhonda Jubenville raised the issue at council Monday, asking staff to update the public on the situation in the interest of “transparency.”

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Chief administrator Michael Duben said Mayor Darrin Canniff wrote the province Sept. 28 to say he and council weren’t interested in accepting the powers.

Strong mayor powers were implemented to address Ontario’s housing supply crisis that has prompted the province to set an ambitious target of building 1.5 million homes across Ontario by 2031.

The powers let mayors pass housing-related bylaws with the support of only one-third of councillors, override council approval of zoning and other bylaws impeding construction of new homes, prepare and table municipal budgetas and hire and fire department heads.

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Duben said the municipality didn’t get “a very clear response” to Canniff’s initial letter, prompting a second letter Oct. 31 reiterating Chatham-Kent isn’t interested in the powers.

These powers were rejected by council even though it might mean passing up on $330,000 a year from Ontario’s Build Faster Fund.

In a bid to secure the funding, council had reaffirmed its commitment to meeting the province’s housing targets. Chatham-Kent leads the province in housing starts, achieving 301 per cent of its target for this year.

According to the provincial website www.ontario.ca/page/tracking-housing-supply-progress that shows Ontario’s housing supply progress, since 2022 Chatham-Kent has already reached 789 housing starts, closing in on its 10-year target of 1,100 homes. The municipality has also already well exceeded its 2023 target of 81 housing starts with 244 new homes being under construction this year, according to the website.

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The provincial government responded to the second letter a day later, saying it’s extending strong mayor powers to Chatham-Kent, Duben said. “So, the mayor does have strong mayor powers and has the ability to exercise those powers if he wishes.”

Despite Canniff’s efforts “to find a happy medium that would allow us to apply for funding and meet council’s desire not to have strong mayor powers, that’s not where the province put us,” he added.

Chatham-Kent doesn’t need the powers because “council is working well as a team” and the municipality is doing a “great job” with respect to new housing, Canniff said. Having them “changes absolutely nothing” about council teamwork.

The next step is to work on delegating some of the new powers, he said.

A memo has gone to council saying the mayor has directed staff to report back on how some of the powers can be delegated to council or the CAO, Duben said..

Duben pointed the first 29 municipalities given strong mayor mayors had no choice, since it was mandated by provincial legislation.

Municipalities are a “creature of statute, we are a creature of the province, and so sometimes they do these things and there’s not a whole bunch that we can do about it,” he added.

With files from Trevor Terfloth

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