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GREENSTONE — It’s nice to have the option of “strong mayor powers,” but the idea will have to be discussed by municipal council.
That, in a nutshell, is Greenstone Mayor Jamie McPherson’s reaction to Wednesday’s announcement from Queen’s Park that his municipality and 168 others could get strong mayor powers to speed things up in their governance.
“I’m just going through it now, the letter from the minister, and I guess anything that will help us to improve housing and infrastructure we’ve got to look at,” McPherson said Wednesday.
“Reading the bullet points, those are the ones that would be probably most beneficial to any community because we all need to work on our infrastructure, we all need to work on housing.”
McPherson said he will consult Greenstone councillors on the potential expansion of his powers on such matters as appointment of a chief administrative officer and creating committees, as well as approvals for new housing projects.
He said a little more power in the mayor’s hands might improve efficiency, but “I’m not inclined to use the strong mayor powers as such. I’m inclined to ‘what can we do as a community to make our community better.’
“But … if it’s something that will help, we are willing to consider it. We’re always willing to consider anything that makes our community better. And that’s what we have to look at.”
The Ontario government announced Wednesday that it is proposing to expand strong mayor powers to the heads of council in 169 additional municipalities, effective May 1.
The extension of such powers is “to help deliver on provincial priorities, such as building more homes, transit and other infrastructure across Ontario,” said a government news release.
“This significant expansion reflects Ontario’s commitment to streamline local governance and help ensure municipalities have the tools they need to reduce obstacles that can stand in the way of new housing and infrastructure development,” said the release.
“The powers would allow heads of council … to support shared provincial-municipal priorities, such as encouraging the approval of new housing and constructing and maintaining infrastructure to support housing, including roads and transit.”
There are currently 47 Ontario municipalities, including Thunder Bay, with strong mayor powers.
Six other municipalities in Northwestern Ontario are on the list for potential strong mayor powers: Kenora, Dryden, Atikokan, Fort Frances, Rainy River and Sioux Lookout.
