Housing Minister Steve Clark announced last week that more municipalities would be receiving strong mayor powers, giving the leaders of Ontario’s big cities the authority to override some municipal council decisions, an authority many mayors don’t see of any use.
Following a meeting with Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM), composed of 29 mayors from the province's biggest cities, Clark surprised the municipalities with the controversial strong mayor powers, having not discussed the announcement during the meeting.
The mayors of 26 cities will join Toronto and Ottawa, granted the powers in December, as ‘strong’ mayors. When the powers are enacted on July 1, more than 90 per cent of Ontario’s population will live in municipalities under these new powers.