Latest news with #housingpolicy
CTV News
4 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘Crazy idea': Ontario councillors push back as strong mayor powers reach small towns
Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack attends Question Period at Queen's Park in Toronto, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston TORONTO — A month after Ontario's government extended strong mayor powers to a swath of new municipalities, some leaders are promising never to use the measures — but a chorus of small-town councillors warn that local democracy is under threat. As of May 1, another 169 mayors in the province can now veto bylaws, pass new ones with just one-third of council in favour and hire or fire municipal department heads unilaterally. Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack said last month that the province decided to more than triple the number of mayors who can access the powers in an effort to build housing faster and streamline local governance. The measures were first introduced in 2022 and initially only applied to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario's two most populous cities. Several municipalities are taking active steps to reject the powers now that they have been granted more widely. Mark Hunter, one of 10 city councillors in Stratford, recently got unanimous support for his motion to reject the new powers. Hunter said it was symbolic and designed to show that municipal democracy shouldn't be 'subject to provincial whim.' 'What it effectively does is get rid of majority rule in our council,' he said. 'It's the expectation of the residents in our community that their representatives are able to fully represent them and this change puts some level of diminishment on that.' Hunter said his fellow councillors can have strong disagreements at council, but lively discussions result in better decisions for the community. Anything that diminishes that discussion is worse for residents, he said. Councillors aren't concerned about Stratford's current mayor abusing his power, said Hunter, but they are worried about what could happen in the future. 'It's another example of concentrating power in fewer hands. Unfortunately in human history, that doesn't always work out so well,' he said. David O'Neil, a councillor in Quinte West, said he is also concerned about strong mayor powers, adding they represent 'a real misdirection' by the province. 'I think this decision is on par with the crazy idea of building a tunnel under the 401,' O'Neil said, referring to Premier Doug Ford's promise to add a tunnel under the major Ontario highway. He added he is skeptical that strong mayor powers would lead to new housing being built in his community, and thinks the province should waive development fees if it wants to see more housing built. Zack Card, another councillor for Quinte West, said he believes the expansion of the strong mayor powers will 'erode the democratic traditions of municipal councils in Ontario.' 'I believe effective councils work collaboratively and with an understanding that all voices carry equal weight. Tipping that balance could potentially hinder governance and make solving issues within our communities more difficult,' Card wrote in an email. Neither O'Neil nor Card would speak to the recent dismissal of the municipality's chief administration officer, which was described on the municipality's website as a 'mayoral decision' pursuant to the legislation, made on the first day the powers were available. Quinte West Mayor Jim Harrison said in an email to The Canadian Press that 'the decision was made in close collaboration and consensus with council, utilizing strong mayor powers to move forward.' Less than a week after the decision, he told a council meeting that he wasn't planning to make use of the strong mayor powers. O'Neil suggested his concern is more future-oriented: it's unclear what could a different sort of mayor do with these powers five, 10 or 20 years down the road. David Arbuckle, executive director of the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, said unilateral power threatens a local government's administrative authority and staffers' ability to give non-partisan, evidence-based advice. 'It's changed the dynamic where (a city staffer) now has to be mindful of the fact that they could be hired or fired by the mayor at any point in time,' Arbuckle said in a recent interview. 'The advice they're bringing forward may not be as neutral as possible because ultimately they are now responding to one individual.' Corey Engelsdorfer, a councillor from Prince Edward County, said he's worried the powers will exacerbate existing divisions on his council and, should they be used, could 'sideline' constituents even as the community experiences a boom in development. The traditional model of majority rule is already divisive, Engelsdorfer said — especially when it comes to housing decisions — so decisions being made with even less support could lead to even more public cynicism. 'The way we build homes is by working together as a council and not by one person or a third of council pushing through what they want to push through,' he said. 'I always hear Premier Ford say that these changes cut red tape, but democracy to me is not red tape. I don't think it's something that needs to be in place at all.' Mayor Steve Ferguson said in an interview that he was working to defer several of the strong mayor powers, including personnel decisions, back to council. The council also unanimously passed a resolution asking the province to rescind strong mayor legislation, Engelsdorfer said. Despite the concerns, Matti Siemiatycki, director of the University of Toronto's Infrastructure Institute and a professor of geography and planning, said the uptake of the powers has been 'fairly underwhelming.' Before last month, there were only 46 so-called strong mayors in Ontario. Only a few made use of their powers. High-profile examples include Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath advancing affordable housing development on two municipal parking lots in April 2024, and Mississauga's former mayor Bonnie Crombie passing bylaws to build fourplexes in October 2023. But Siemiatycki said he fears there's greater risk for strong mayor powers to go unchecked in smaller municipalities, where there is less oversight and, often, less journalistic scrutiny. 'We've seen an erosion and a decline of the local presses across Canada, and it's no more visible than in small communities,' he said. 'If you're concentrating powers, what's really needed is external oversight bodies. And the media is one of those, so smaller communities might struggle to have that accountability and people being aware of what's happening.' Siemiatycki said while he sympathizes with the province's desire to tackle a housing and infrastructure crisis, he agrees with the councillors who have raised concerns. 'It doesn't necessarily mean you'll go further just because you're aiming to go faster,' he said. 'The thing that's more sustainable over the long term is acceleration through processes that have very clear accountabilities and timelines to them.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2025. Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on public sector reform: defining the powers of a tsar
The secretary general of the Department of Housing, Graham Doyle, caused something of a stir at a housing conference this week when he said that the State does not need a ' housing tsar' – the moniker given by the media to the person who will head a new office to try to accelerate housing provision. This idea is, of course, part of Government housing policy and the Minster for Housing, James Browne, has been trying to fill the post. A statement issued by the Department of Housing later the same evening said that Doyle had emphasised that the new Housing Activation Office (HAO) will have a chief executive with ' an interventionist' approach, but not a tsar ' and the connotations that word evokes.' Predictably the media was given the blame for the 'tsar' title, which we were told was 'misleading and not reflective of the real intent and purpose of the HAO.' Words are important here. The primary dictionary definition of a tsar obviously relates back to Russian history, but it can also refer to a person given power by a Government to deal with a particular issue. So what power will the head of the new office actually have? It is clear that the Department sees the HAO role as under its aegis, rather than the independent executive recommended in the report of the Housing Commission. Clearly the Minister, reporting to the Government, is ultimately responsible for this. He needs to make it clear how the incumbent will relate to his and other government departments and groups in the area, of which there are now a few new additions? READ MORE Clarity and accountability is vital. We have seen in other cases, such as the recent revelations surrounding Children's Health Ireland, how blurred lines can lead to a lack of transparency and questions over who is responsible. The housing secretary general is no doubt correct to observe that just knocking a few heads together is not going to solve the housing problem. But it may still be needed, particularly to sort out who exactly is responsible for what in the complicated structures now in place.
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
National report card praises P.E.I. for housing policy, while pointing out some low points
A nationwide report card by the Missing Middle Initiative gives P.E.I. some favourable reviews for its overall approach to housing policy, while flagging some areas where the Island needs to do better — including banning new homes in flood-prone areas. CBC's Cody MacKay spoke to the group's founding director to learn more.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
‘We do not need housing tsar' says sec gen at Department of Housing
The appointment of a 'housing tsar' has been opposed by the top civil servant at the Department of Housing, Graham Doyle. Mr Doyle spoke against the introduction of a new 'tsar' at the Property Industry Ireland (PII) conference in Dublin on Thursday. 'I like that poll, I voted no,' Mr Doyle said, referring to a poll of conference attendees on whether a housing tsar was necessary. 'We do not need a housing tsar, can I just clear this one up, once and for all.' READ MORE The position to head the new Housing Activation Office (HAO) was suggested by Minister James Browne, who also spoke at the conference. [ Why is the housing crisis Ireland's most enduring failure? Opens in new window ] [ Housing tsar row masks a much deeper problem for the Government Opens in new window ] While an appointment was blocked by Fine Gael at the start of May, the Government has insisted it will be going ahead with the plan. Responding to the questions on the secretary general's comments on Thursday Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure Jack Chambers said: 'We've been very clear. The Government position is that there will be someone leading the Housing Activation Office, and it's a matter of Government policy and direction that that's what will occur.' Mr Chambers, speaking at the launch of the public consultation period for the National Development Plan review, added that the secretary general's view 'might be his own perspective' but 'he'll have to implement what Government decides'. The HAO position is intended to eliminate blockages stopping the development of new housing units. 'The Minister and the department have a job to do around housing policy – it's very much about creating an environment for people in this room to deliver and do what they do,' Mr Doyle went on to say at the conference. He stressed that the work the department does is in the policy and funding space as well as removing obstacles for construction efforts. 'We don't need a tsar to do all of that and we never, ever used the word tsar,' he said. 'What we do need is an interventionist approach on the ground, at the site level, where we are talking about coalescing the various infrastructure, the local authority actions and infrastructure pieces. 'There is a sense in some quarters that if you knock a few heads together, if you give enough people a kick in the backside, then things happen. I only wish that was the case.' He said the way to 'coalesce' the actions of the State bodies to maximise housing output 'is to look at all those very detailed issues down at that level.' 'Those who said this is about doing the Minister's job are talking utter nonsense,' Mr Doyle said. 'As a civil servant, I don't like using phrases like that, but it really was.'
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
P.E.I. 'punches above its weight,' national report card on housing policy in Canada suggests
Social Sharing There's usually an "uh-oh" moment when you get a report card back, but a national report card on housing shows Prince Edward Island didn't do that bad. In fact, the report, done by the Missing Middle Initiative (MMI) out of the University of Ottawa, found that P.E.I. "punches above its weight when it comes to housing policy." With a C+ overall grade, Canada's smallest province tied with Quebec and British Columbia for best overall performance among the provinces. The report card is based on five major pressure points for housing, with P.E.I.'s grades shown in parentheses: Family-friendly density and the construction of duplexes and mid-rise apartments (C); Modernized and better building codes overall (D+); Factory-built or use of modular housing (C+); Building homes outside of high-risk areas susceptible to things like climate change (C); Construction of social housing (A). That C+ for P.E.I. might seem average, but it's on the higher end on the report card compared to the other provinces, which scored mostly D+ and C-. The Island was at the top of the list with an A for social housing. Mike Moffatt, the founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative, said he was surprised to see P.E.I. rank so high. "It kept standing out to us that P.E.I. had a plan or a vision for most of these things," he said during a webinar with CBC News and other journalists Wednesday. "They issued a report, they had a long-term plan on it that had set targets. "That was a surprise to us … overall there are these series of detailed plans." Moffatt was referring to P.E.I.'s 2024-2029 housing strategy, released last year. In it, the provincial government vowed to build 10,000 new homes over that five-year period; increase the supply of social housing; and make it quicker overall for private developers to go from permit to finished product. When it comes to the top three performing provinces in Canada, Moffatt said, "I probably wouldn't have guessed P.E.I., but it's well-deserved." National housing crisis This report from the Missing Middle Initiative is being released against the backdrop of a national movement to build hundreds of thousands of homes in the coming years. Mark Carney's Liberal federal government has promised a level of housing construction that the country hasn't seen since the Second World War. On P.E.I., the need for that kind of effort has been felt for years. A housing crisis has gripped the province since before the COVID-19 pandemic, with vacancy rates floating just barely above zero and housing costs having effectively doubled in the last 10 years. Where P.E.I. can improve As with all report cards, there's room for improvement. Moffatt said P.E.I. didn't do as well when it came to promoting building of housing away from areas that are at the whims of climate change, including flood zones. "You're an Island, right? That's the one area where we were a little bit surprised there wasn't more on," he said. MMI scored P.E.I. on the lower end of allowing building in areas prone to flooding, with a C rating. It cited the fact that P.E.I. has no binding flood hazard regulation and no hazard zones where regulation or policy stops proposed developments. What the Island does have, though, is an online tool called CHRIS (Climate Hazard and Risk Information System), which shows coastal areas most at risk of flooding from extreme storm events or gradually rising sea levels — a topic of great interest to people looking to buy or build houses in the province. That tool is "quite helpful," the report said, "but prohibitions on building in areas prone to flooding must be made stronger."
