Ford ‘very disappointed’ Ottawa candidates won’t use strong mayor powers

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to the Association of Municipalities Ontario conference, Monday, August 15, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he’s disappointed that Ottawa’s leading mayoral candidates are promising not to use “strong mayor” powers the province instituted last month.

“I think it’s very, very disappointing,” Ford told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll on Monday. “A mayor gets the big office, the big title and he has one vote. Why run for mayor then?”

Catherine McKenney, Mark Sutcliffe and Bob Chiarelli all said at the CTV Ottawa mayoral debate last week that they would not use the new powers.

“These new powers are undemocratic, they’re Doug Ford’s way of getting what he wants through the city of Ottawa. I will not use those powers,” McKenney said.

“I have no intention of using those powers either,” Sutcliffe said. “I don’t think anybody in Ottawa was asking for them. I intend to build consensus and respect the democratically elected members of council.”

The new law gives the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto the power to hire and fire department heads, single-handedly propose the municipal budget, and veto certain bylaws approved by council if they are “related to matters of provincial authority.”

The mayoral veto can be overturned if two-thirds of council vote to overrule it.

The Ontario legislature passed the bill last month. The Ford government touted it as a tool to help mayors get more homes built faster.

The provincial NDP and Liberals said the new law amounts to Ford interfering in municipal politics ahead of the elections. Outgoing Ottawa mayor Jim Watson also opposes the new powers.

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— CTV Ottawa (@ctvottawa) October 13, 2022

“Everyone shouts and screams about they want attainable homes, affordable homes, they need more rental units, but they always say not in my backyard. Do it in the next guy’s backyard,” Ford told CFRA on Monday.

“I lived it in the city of Toronto; it was a nightmare. It would take years to get an approval. And you go down to the States, they tell me you go down to Ohio, and you get a building permit in 3 to 4 months and you’re shovels in the ground. That’s what we’re competing against,” he added. “Let’s cut the red tape and the bureaucracy and let’s get shovels in the ground.”

Ford has also said that he plans to expand the powers to more municipalities.

The premier is in Ottawa Monday for an announcement with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Nokia’s Kanata campus.