Creatures

As governance structures go, municipal governance must surely be among the more freakish. Oddly financed, oddly organized, and oddly malleable. So odd that local governments can sometimes seem trapped in a video game, one in which the rules aren’t fully scripted (or thought through) and are thus subject to radical change midway through the challenge. Worse, in this narrative, municipal governments are merely the players in someone else’s game.

As any municipal official will tell you—most often when explaining why they can’t do something—local governments are creatures of the province. Their power and authority— and considerable funding—derive from the provincial government. Queen’s Parks gives power and takes it away.

In this game, local governments navigate within confined spaces that are defined and mapped out by the province. Queen’s Park sets the mission while municipalities struggle to beat back the dragons with a stick and a slingshot.

But sometimes, the creators of this game seem to be goofing around—giddy (or emboldened) to see what twists and turns they can impose upon municipalities while insufficiently wary about what they are unleashing upon the world.

Last week Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford decided to mix the game up a bit, suggesting he might bestow strong mayor status to the leaders of Toronto and Ottawa. He wants these municipalities to move quicker in approving new homebuilding. Ford’s trial balloon serves, however, to underline the bizarre relationship between these two levels of government—more like Geppetto and Pinocchio than a real live government.

In this case, the puppetmaster may have stumbled upon a good idea. And useful one in Prince Edward County.

Steve Ferguson was elected mayor in 2018 by 4,981 electors. He has one vote on Council. John Hirsch also has one vote. He was elected to his council seat with 207 votes. (That’s not a slight against Councillor Hirsch, he serves the least populated ward in the County.)

Mayor Ferguson is elected by the entire County, while the voters chose John Hirsch in a single ward—yet both men have the same power around the council table.

In this arrangement, it is extraordinarily difficult for the mayor—the only person elected by the entire population—to set an agenda, establish priorities, and get things done. It is also way too easy to thwart initiative and ambition. Better to sit quietly and see where the wind blows.

It is a challenge compounded by the fact that council members aren’t bound by party allegiance. Lacking any coalescing force guided by ideology or principles, each council member is a freelancer. Voting alignment is quixotic and temporary. Coalitions form the same way the Goths and Jocks find each other at high school.

While Ford hasn’t yet spelled out his plan, expanding the mayor’s power might help to focus Council’s purpose and relevance. It might kickstart a more ambitious agenda. It might enable mayoral candidates to propose and enact more concrete action rather than wishful thinking and cajoling. A mayor’s veto power might also help Council sidestep impetuous decision-making. It might avoid the scatter gun approach to policy making.

While Ford has indicated granting strong mayor tools to large cities, he should also consider singletier municipalities, such as Prince Edward County. By definition and structure, single-tier local governments manage the full breadth of municipal business. In contrast, most other local governments share the burden of these responsibilities across two layers of elected officials.

A strong mayor might serve as a more energetic advocate for municipal reform (which makes it less appealing to the province.) A strong mayor would be better placed to call out the mistakes of amalgamation. And propose remedies.

Roads across rural Ontario are crumbling faster than they can be mended. A strong mayor may insist the province take some back—or provide sufficient funding to maintain them. A strong mayor might be able to hammer home the dysfunction of rural infrastructure funding.

A strong mayor might break the game.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca