With rumours circulating about the possibility of Halifax receiving “strong mayor powers,” one municipal councillor is looking for confirmation from the province.
Coun. Sam Austin says the idea is concerning.
“This really should happen in discussion with municipalities, not as something that kind of comes out of the backrooms fully formed, as a fait accompli, right?” said Austin, who represents District 5.
“We should be involved, and I think the public should also be involved.”
So-called strong mayor powers are passed through provincial legislation, giving mayors certain”powers” to accelerate the implementation of some shared municipal-provincial actions, such as housing and infrastructure.
In Ontario, strong mayor powers were recently extended to a swath of new municipalities, many in rural areas. Those mayors can now veto bylaws, pass new ones with just one-third of council in favour, and hire or fire municipal department heads unilaterally.
Austin plans to bring forward a motion to council that asks the municipality to write a letter to Nova Scotia’s provincial government for clarification as to whether strong mayor powers are happening.
And if so, he wants to request that the changes be made after consultation with councillors and residents.
“I think we make better decisions when we actually work together, and so that’s what I would hope for coming out of this,” he said. “If the province is seriously looking at this, that they actually talk to the municipalities of the province in a meaningful way.”
Meeting with reporters during a lunch break on Tuesday, Mayor Andy Fillmore said he hasn’t officially requested strong mayor powers, but has had informal discussions with the province.
“Municipal organizational structure exists as a result of provincial legislation, so any changes that we want to make to our governance system would require legislation. So, I think that some change is needed, yes,” Fillmore said.
He added that with the current structure of council, there is no accountability for constituents and that bureaucracy is slowing things down.
“For me, this is all about the people that are outside of that chamber and not the people that are in it, who we better serve the electorate in a way that is accountable directly to them,” he said.
For Austin, he feels the strength of council is the diversity in the voices and the areas that they represent. He believes losing that would negatively impact the municipality.
“You’ve got strong representation there, one person can’t fill that gap, right? So, I have real concerns on a democratic and just a governance level as to what this could lead to,” Austin said.