All of Durham Region's lakeshore municipalities, including Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, Oshawa and Clarington, will receive "Strong Mayor" powers on July 1, 2023.

Steve Clark, Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced that 26 new municipalities will receive the Strong Mayor powers.  

These powers enable heads of council to:

• Choose to appoint the municipality's chief administrative officer
• Hire certain municipal department heads, and establish and re-organize departments
• Create committees of council, assign their functions and appoint the chairs and vice-chairs of committees of council
• Propose the municipal budget, which would be subject to council amendments and a separate head of council veto and council override process
• Vetoing certain by-laws if the head of council is the opinion that all or part of the by-law could potentially interfere with a provincial priority
• Bring forward matters for council consideration if the head of council is of the opinion that considering the matter could potentially advance a provincial policy.

All five lakeshore mayors responded to Durham Radio News about the new legislative powers that the province is granting them.

Kevin Ashe, Mayor of Pickering

"It's still kind of early to understand what it means.  I think the goal of the province is a shared priority about building homes faster, so it's an added tool that would allow municipalities - certainly we're a fast-growing municipality in Pickering - to do quicker approvals.  It also gives the mayor an opportunity to present a budget as well as more active management of the city administration.  It's not something I asked for, but it's something that we have to consider in terms of advancing the priorities of the city."

Shaun Collier, Mayor of Ajax

"I have actually been asking my MP for this for the last year, since the strong mayor powers were given to Toronto and Ottawa.  This is, I think, an important tool that will really help move things forward quickly, especially in areas like our downtown [and] unlocking that centre.  I don't know that I will [use the powers].  If a situation arises that requires [it], absolutely I wouldn't hesitate to.  But you have to be very careful, with this tool, to not cause a rift between the mayor and their councillors.  I would only use it sparingly if there was a need to.  I will always try and work with council to get support on everything.  One good thing about this would be to bring motions without notice, to move forward very quickly if we need to move on something right away.  Right now, the planning process and the meeting process, it takes you a couple of weeks.  If you want to do something, I either have to call a special meeting or wait for the next meeting.  It's also helpful if we were to be in a situation where perhaps we require a committee to be struck on something.  Being able to strike that committee and name the chair and vice-chair and move on very quickly would really help expedite and cut the red tape."

"[Friday's announcement] doesn't give the mayor the freedom to just go and do whatever the heck I want.  That's not what this is for.  This is meant to help move forward provincial priorities and, in this case, housing and addressing our homeless situation and creating affordability and moving things forward and broadening our tax base and taking the pressure off our residential taxpayer.  I don't think I will really even need strong mayor powers for 99 per cent of things, because I think council will just support on all of those things.  There might be instances, for [example], in our downtown and Hunt Street and perhaps our MTSA zones, where there might not be support...but it does fit within the provincial priorities.  That's where I would have the extra push to get things done...But again, it's going to be very selective.  This is not a free-for-all for the mayor and not even need a council anymore.  No, not at all.  Council still has a number of powers to strike down, should a [mayor] do something they don't support.  There is a mechanism in place.  You have to be very careful.  You still have to work collaboratively with your council.  And this is just an extra tool in the toolbox to help us get things done."

Dan Carter, Mayor of Oshawa

"I've got a great council.  We work well together and I like the democratic process that we have.  I will find that the strong mayor powers will only be used in extraordinary circumstances.  I always want to work with my council.  I want it to be a democratic process, and I think that that's a better way for me to be able to operate council than strong mayors' powers, but if there is a moment where it is necessary, under extraordinary circumstances, that's the moment that I'll use it."

"It's the mix of housing that is necessary.  I understand all the provincial steps that they are taking to try and resolve the issue.  It didn't happen overnight.  It's not going to be fixed overnight.  And it's going to take all municipalities to be able to address it.  My concern also lays in a couple of different areas.  One is the labour shortage, in regard to the housing industry itself, and the other supporting elements in regard to building those homes.  And number two is [that] construction inflation is still at record heights.  And that is getting developers to hold off to see when prices will decrease.  So we've got many more hurdles than just saying 'we're going to build, in our circumstance, 23,000 homes.'  We've got to be able to resolve those other issues to be able to resolve the housing crisis."

"I think that [people] have to have confidence that the representatives that they supported in the last election will continue to work as a group to be able to serve the community as a whole.  Our fiduciary duties will be abided by and will be lived out based upon the understanding that the electorate passed a ballot...to make sure the democratic process was respected.  And my intent is to respect that process."

Elizabeth Roy, Mayor of Whitby

"I don't intend on doing anything differently than what I have been doing with current council.  My primary focus, since I became mayor, was to build on consensus and to build on a team.  And I plan to continue doing that.  I support the need to look at how we can work to get more housing into place.  I understand why these powers have been put into place; I'm not disagreeing with them.  But for myself, personally, as the mayor for Whitby, I have a team of nine, including myself, and I will continue to work with this team.  This is also not just about housing.  It's about affordable housing.  And we are working with the region to look at locations [for] affordable housing as well, too.  It has already been happening. [The 'strong mayor' powers allow] for other municipalities who are not in the same position to move forward, but I think Whitby is in a great stead that we have the numbers that we will be able to support the 18,000 we committed to."

"I find that will be happening is it's going to be status quo as we're moving forward.  I think some are spinning it as an affront to democracy.  I don't think that's the case.  There are many municipalities across North America that do have strong mayor powers.  We already have Toronto and Ottawa that have this right.  So I think it's something that we'll be cautious with, and something that we have to be cautious with.  Because it is a responsibility that wasn't available for the first 50 years of our existence and I'll take that responsibility very seriously."

Adrian Foster, Mayor of Clarington

"I welcome the opportunity to learn more about how this tool can help address local housing needs and meet our target of 13,000 new units by 2031.  Different communities require different approaches, but regardless, residents expect us to do all that we can to deliver on this important issue.  As the mayor, I believe it is critically important that Clarington council continue to work together to solve tough issues like housing.  Collaboration with my colleagues has been and will continue to be my focus as we navigate the rapid growth in our community."