Latest news with #RobFlack
CTV News
01-08-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Ontario pledges $1 million to revitalize London's Silverwood Arena
From left to right: Minister of Housing and Local Affairs and local MPP Rob Flack, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Neil Lumsden, Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis, Ward 1 Councillor Hadleigh McAlister, and Ward 8 Councillor Steve Lehman seen in London, Ont. on July 31, 2025. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London) A once-popular east-end arena is getting a second life, thanks to a provincial investment of up to $1 million announced Thursday. Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sport Neil Lumsden and Minister of Housing and Affairs and local MPP Rob Flack were in London to reveal the funding, which will go toward the transformation of the decommissioned Silverwood Arena into a modern, year-round community hub. 'It's the centre point of a lot of families,' said Lumsden. 'You need a place to go, whether it's hockey, recreation, or swimming. Not only does it bring community together, but it adds value to youth as they grow up.' The Silverwood facility, originally built in 1963 and shut down in 2018, is currently about 60 per cent through its design phase. Construction is expected to begin in 2025, with completion targeted for 2027. Once complete, the redeveloped facility will include a dry sports pad, accessible washrooms and entrances, new HVAC and roofing systems, and flexible multi-use community spaces. 'This investment will help us transition Silverwood into a year-round community centre,' said John-Paul McGonigle, the City of London's director of recreation and sport. 'It aligns well with the goals of the province's Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund.' City officials emphasized the project's focus on community wellness, sustainability, and economic resilience. The design incorporates energy-efficient systems and accessibility features to ensure the facility meets modern standards. The city said Silverwood Arena will offer a wide range of programs, rentals, youth sports and events, serving not only the surrounding Hamilton Road neighbourhood but the wider London area as well. 'A big day for the community. It's great to see this investment, in an aging facility,' said Ward 1 Councillor Hadleigh McAlister. 'This means so much to the community. Generations of people at Hamilton Road have used it. I mean, it's not just for this area, obviously, this will serve London because we have a big demand for recreational facilities.'
Global News
31-07-2025
- Business
- Global News
Ontario town offered financial lifeline on condition it does not suspend services
A small northern Ontario township facing financial ruin has been handed a lifeline by the Ford government — with major strings attached — as provincial officials continue to investigate how it accumulated millions in debt. The Township of Fauquier-Strickland caught the province's attention at the end of June, when it announced it would lay off all its staff and stop providing its 500 or so residents with services in the face of massive debts. The township, located north of Timmins, Ont., said it had $2.5 million in accumulated operating deficits and had utterly exhausted its reserve funding. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing responded by telling the local mayor and councillors they could not stop offering services. The province sent in financial investigators to look at its books. Story continues below advertisement Now, a new letter from Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack, addressed to the town, is offering it $300,000 in one-time funding to keep the municipality afloat while further investigations take place. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The money, according to the letter, can be used for 'certain expenses that would enable the continuation of municipal services to residents' and will be paid in monthly installments. The funding will only be sent to the township if it agrees to certain conditions, including cancelling its plan to lay off all staff and end municipal services, as well as agreeing to freeze discretionary spending. The request is on the council agenda for the town on Thursday, with councillors required to pass resolutions agreeing to the terms in order to unlock the funds. It had previously planned to lay off all staff on Aug. 1. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing stressed the one-time nature of the funding to Global News, saying the money was to get the township through the next few months while work continued to investigate the cause — and solution — to its deficits. When council passed a resolution to suspend all municipal staff at the end of June, it said the only alternative would have been to implement a property tax increase of 190 to 230 per cent on residents, which would have tripled most tax bills and potentially forced families from their homes. Story continues below advertisement The municipality says it has been operating with zero cash reserves for over a year, relying heavily on credit to fund ongoing operations. In 2024, property taxes were increased by 26 per cent in an effort to address the growing problem. — with files from Global News' Prisha Dev
Global News
18-07-2025
- Business
- Global News
Municipalities have $10B from developers saved up. Ontario says they should spend it now
The Ford government is accusing Ontario's major towns and cities of 'sitting' on billions of unspent dollars amidst a growing housing crisis, telling them the money should be used to reduce the cost of building. According to data shared by the provincial government, Ontario's 444 municipalities have roughly $10 billion in the bank between them, funds collected from developers building new housing projects. The data, which Global News requested from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, shows Toronto has $2.8 billion, Durham Region has $1.1 billion and the City of Ottawa has collected over $800,000. Brampton's development charge balance, as of 2023, sits around $412,000. Vaughan's is at 543,000, while Mississauga's has roughly $414,0000. It's money the provincial government argues municipalities should spend — and quickly — to reduce the cost of building new homes. Story continues below advertisement 'Municipalities across Ontario are sitting on $10 billion of development charge reserve funds — funds that could be used to get shovels in the ground,' a spokesperson for Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack told Global News. 'The changes we are making through the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act will ensure municipalities allocate at least 60 per cent of their development charge reserves, following the examples of Vaughan and Mississauga, who are already using these reserves to reduce building costs and support new housing.' Developers continue to complain that it is too expensive to build new homes in Ontario, despite various fees being reduced. Housing starts across the province are down compared to 2024, which was also a decline from the year before. Municipalities, however, argue the money they have in their reserve accounts isn't simply sitting there. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy In Toronto, for example, a spokesperson said the $2.8 billion reserve fund weighs against a 10-year building plan worth $6.1 billion. 'We are also now at a point in time where we are spending development charges at a faster pace than we are collecting them,' they said. Similarly, Mississauga — where the mayor slashed development charges — is predicting a shortfall when spending commitments are taken into account. A spokesperson for Durham Region said that 'funds currently held in the DC reserve funds have already been committed to capital projects that are either underway or about to commence.' Story continues below advertisement Vaughan, which has made cuts to its DCs, said the changes the provincial government would not have a negative impact on its balance. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing urged the cities to use the money in their accounts to unlock new housing. 'We continue to encourage municipalities across the province to use their reserve funds to build more homes in their communities,' they said in a statement. Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed-Ward, who also chairs the Big City Mayors' caucus, said the 'narrative that development charges hold up housing or make it less affordable is a destructive distraction.' 'There's this narrative, there's a single DC rate for everybody and it's too high — without any kind of understanding DCs are developed in the community, with the development industry, based on very restrictive provincial restrictions,' she said. 'So I can't collect a DC for a community centre and spend it on my fire department. I have to spend it on what it was intended for, it's very prescribed.' In 2022, the Ford government announced audits into the development charge accounts of major municipalities, alleging at the time that they were sitting on billions. Those audits were never made public. Since then, the province has made a number of changes to how development charges work, what can be collected and how they can be spent. Story continues below advertisement In its latest legislation, Ontario reduced the scope and number of studies municipalities can require for new developments, sped up certain minor variances and standardized and streamlined development charges. It also allows municipalities to more easily reduce development charges, allows residential builders to pay those fees at the time of occupancy instead of when a permit is issued and exempts long-term care homes from the fees in order to spur their development. Many of those changes, unlike previous tweaks, were suggested to the government by homebuilders and municipal advocates together. Lindsay Jones, the director of policy and government relations for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, agreed that 'municipalities are not hoarding development charges.' She said, however, the system would benefit from changes. 'There's no question that there's been really significant shifts in the market, in the overall macroeconomic context, and in the realities of incomes for Ontarians since the development charge regime was put in place almost 30 years ago,' she said. 'No question, there are ways that it can be improved — and we are optimistic about the potential for Bill 17 to be able to have some positive impacts.' — with a file from The Canadian Press
Global News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Pressure grows on Ford government for amendments to councillor removal plan
The Ford government is facing growing pressure to amend its plan to deal with council misconduct, with critics suggesting the proposed legislation has a fatal flaw. In the spring, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack reintroduced legislation, originally proposed in December, to increase accountability and consequences for municipal councils. The proposed legislation, which is currently going through committee hearings, makes a number of changes to how integrity commissioners and codes of conduct govern local councillors across Ontario. In the most extreme circumstances, it allows for a councillor to be removed from office. Removal would have to be recommended by a municipal integrity commissioner and then greenlit by the provincial integrity commissioner. The final stage would be a unanimous vote by the accused councillor's colleagues to remove them. Story continues below advertisement That last step has been the subject of concern for the government's critics and advocates of municipal reform. Ontario NDP municipal affairs critic Jeff Burch said he supported most of the legislation, particularly changes to professionalize and standardize the system of local integrity commissioners. 'This legislation is very important, and it accomplishes that,' he told Global News. 'With respect to removing councillors, almost everyone agrees that the final decision should not go back to the city council in question; it should go to some kind of professional body or the judiciary.' Recent events at Niagara Falls council have put a spotlight on the problem. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy In that city, a councillor has been charged with domestic assault by local police. The charge has not been proven in court. The Women of Ontario Say No, an advocacy group, asked to present to the council about proposed changes to the law, which would temporarily sideline any councillors facing a criminal charge. The group, however, was not allowed to speak to Niagara Falls council about its proposal because they were told it would touch upon an ongoing legal matter. At the next meeting, the councillor himself spoke about his charge, reiterating his innocence. Emily McIntosh, the founder of the Women of Ontario Say No, said the fact council wouldn't let her present was an illustration of the issues with the draft legislation. Story continues below advertisement 'If this was the judicial system and we were looking at a case there, no council person would qualify to be a juror because the bias is so strong,' she previously told Global News. 'So when we're looking at this legislative development, it's not just about making sure it's done, it's about making sure it's done right.' McIntosh and her group would like to see the final step amended, as well as rules putting councillors facing a criminal charge on automatic paid leave until a court decides on their innocence. Ontario Liberal MPP Stephen Blais, who has pushed for years for municipal reform, said the legislation, as written, leaves too much space for politics. 'Requiring a unanimous vote of council makes removal nearly impossible and politicizes the process,' he said. 'Having a judge make the final decision, like in cases of conflict of interest, would keep the bar for removal high and the politics out.' Blais said the Liberals would propose amendments to the legislation and hoped the government would consider them. 'We will be bringing amendments to strengthen the accountability provisions and ensure elected officials are held to the same standards as every other employee in Ontario,' he explained. Story continues below advertisement Global News sent questions to the Ford government about whether it would consider amendments. A spokesperson did not address them in a statement, which said removing a councillor from office should never be 'taken lightly.' The bill has not yet been passed into law and will be subject to more committee hearings on Thursday.
CBC
07-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Critics warn Ontario bill to crack down on misbehaving politicians 'fatally flawed'
The Ford government is taking its proposed bill to crack down on negligent and misbehaving municipal politicians on the road this summer with plans to have it in place before 2026 civic elections. But critics say the new rules are "fatally flawed" and will be ineffective. Committee hearings on Bill 9, dubbed the Municipal Accountability Act, began last week in London and Niagara Falls to gather feedback on the Progressive Conservative plan. It would see the process to handle misconduct standardized across all 444 municipalities in the province and give councils the ability to remove one of their peers from office. Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack told the committee that the government is open to feedback, but aims to pass the bill in the fall. That would mean it would come into force ahead of 2026 municipal elections, he said. "We all know and understand what's at stake with this legislation," Flack told the all-party committee last week. "We know that accountability is not optional, it's essential." WATCH | Ford government reviewing municipal code of conduct amid Pickering council dispute: Ford government reviewing municipal code of conduct amid Pickering council dispute 11 months ago Duration 3:18 The mayor of Pickering and city council members are asking the province to legislate stricter sanctions for councillors after their colleague appeared on a podcast where the host labelled them pedophiles, Nazis and fascists. As CBC's Chris Glover explains, the Doug Ford government confirmed a review of the Municipal Act is now underway. PCs re-introduced bill to address misconduct in May The government re-introduced the legislation in May after it died on the order paper when the snap election was called earlier this year. This is the third attempt by the PCs to introduce legislation aimed at addressing serious misconduct by municipal councillors. They're responding to years of requests from municipal politicians and staff who have asked for tools to deal with allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and ethics abuses. Flack said the current process is not uniform and gives councillors the ability only to suspend pay, even in the most serious of instances. It undermines the public's view of fairness and accountability on municipal councils, he said. "This current system, simply put, does not work as intended and has produced challenges right across Ontario," he said. The new bill would require a local integrity commissioner to investigate misconduct allegations. If that person believed a breach of the code of conduct warranted a politician's removal, the case would be passed on to Ontario's Integrity Commissioner for review. If that watchdog also recommends removal, the case would be passed back to the local council for a decision within 30 days. A councillor could only be removed by a unanimous vote of all the council members who are not the subject of the complaint. Bar is too high for removal of a misbehaving councillor, critics say Municipal lawyer John Mascarin said leaving the final decision in the hands of politicians will ensure the law is never used. Leaving the final call to the courts would de-politicize the process and ensure fairness, he said. "I think the bill is incredibly flawed, fatally flawed," said Mascarin, who is a partner at the firm Aird and Berlis. "Are you going to tell me that on a large council of 16, 20, 25 members ... you're not going to find one member that's going to betray their good conscience and their fiduciary obligations?" Liberal municipal affairs critic Stephen Blais has introduced three private members bills trying to give municipal integrity commissioners enhanced powers. Those bills would have allowed the watchdogs to refer the most egregious code of conduct violations to court. A judge would then determine if a politician should be removed from office and barred from running in subsequent elections. Each time, the bills have stalled in Queen's Park's legislative process or been rejected by Premier Doug Ford's government. Blais said he thinks the standard in this bill for removing a councillor is too high. "I think the government has overshot the mark. I think it's not just high, I think it's kind of in outer space," he said. NDP municipal affairs critic Jeff Burch, who is also a former city councillor, said the government has acquiesced to years of demands for this legislation, but it's made it ineffective. "This bar is far too high," he said. "Why should politicians, who should be held to a higher standard, have such a lower standard and be able to keep their jobs in situations that make other people feel unsafe?" Municipalities want more tools for 'progressive discipline', AMO says The president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario says that group is happy government is moving ahead with the legislation. But Robin Jones, who is also the mayor Westport, Ont., says amendments would make it more effective. AMO previously advocated for cases involving potential ejection from council to head to the courts. Lowering the bar from all of council to a two-thirds majority vote for removal would address some concerns, she said. "We think a super-majority should be enough," she said. "We understand that it may need to be more than a simple majority." Jones said councils also want more middle-ground built into the legislation to give them options for other sanctions. Pay suspension isn't much of a motivator on many smaller councils where salaries are small for what's considered part-time work. The new bill would add removal from council as the next, and only other, penalty available to councils. "We really do think that there should be sort of a progressive discipline opportunity," she said. At the hearings, Flack defended the government's position on the full majority of a council being required to remove a peer. The PCs want to avoid the process being "weaponized," he said. "By the time you get to a vote there should be little doubt that removal or disqualification, if it's being recommended, be done," he said. A spokesperson for Flack said in a statement that a high bar is required for any vote to remove a sitting politician. "Removal from office is a serious measure, reserved for the most extreme code of conduct violations, and safeguarded by a high threshold and thorough review to ensure it is never taken lightly," Alexandra Sanita said.
