Crazy idea: Ontario councillors push back as strong mayor powers reach small towns [Video]

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 …