Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark introduced the legislation, called the Better Municipal Governance Act, at Queen’s Park on Wednesday afternoon. The province says the move is part of an effort to cut red tape on “shared provincial-municipal priorities,” particularly building 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years. “These bold actions are necessary if our government is to keep its commitment to Ontarians and remove the barriers that stand in the way of much-needed housing,” Clark said in a press release. The legislation would allow the housing minister to appoint regional council leaders in Niagara, Peel and York regions for the 2022-2026 council term. Provincially appointed facilitators will also assess regional governments in Durham, Halton, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York to ensure they are ready to “deliver on the government’s commitment to address the housing supply crisis.” It would also advance the “strong mayor” powers given to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa in the run-up to recent municipal elections, before which a mayor’s vote was worth no more than a councillor’s. Currently, Toronto Mayor John Tory or Ottawa Mayor-elect Mark Sutcliffe must win the support of more than half of city council to approve proposals. If the bill passes, Tory and Sutcliffe will only need one in three councilors to vote with them. In a press release issued by the government shortly before Clark’s announcement, two GTA mayors voiced their support for changes to regional governance. Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie called the move “a positive step toward local government reform,” saying in a news release that it will contribute to the province’s goal of building 120,000 new homes in Mississauga over the next decade. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown also applauded the move, saying it will help remove “overlapping” and address growth challenges in Brampton. “Redundancy is the enemy of productivity,” Brown said in the release. Earlier this month, the Ontario government announced a 30-day consultation on removing about 2,995 hectares in 10 municipalities from the Greenbelt, which was created in 2005 to permanently protect from development agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region. In total, the newly approved urban land would be larger in size than Vancouver or Etobicoke. Peel, York and Halton Region recently expanded their urban boundaries as part of official municipal plan updates, which required provincial approval. The province also recently ordered an extension to Hamilton. The government said the move would make it easier to build at least 50,000 homes and that the plan is to add more land elsewhere in the Green Belt than has been taken away. The lands being considered for removal were chosen because they have the potential to build homes in the near future and because they are adjacent to existing urban areas, Premier Doug Ford’s government said.
