The Ford government’s long-promised overhaul of how Ontario municipalities deal with misconduct by councillors is on its way to becoming law.
Bill 9, the legislation designed to standardize codes of conduct and create a pathway to remove elected officials accused of serious wrongdoing passed third reading at Queen’s Park Tuesday with support from all major parties.
The Municipal Accountability Act, passed by a vote of 110 to one, with only independent Haldimand—Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady voting against it. The governing Progressive Conservatives, Ontario New Democrats, Liberals and Greens all backed the measure despite concerns from opposition parties and advocates that the threshold to actually remove a councillor remains prohibitively high.