Essex County Council backs Kingsville’s opposition to Strong Mayors Act

At the final meeting of this mandate, the mayors and deputy mayors who make up the County of Essex council voted unanimously to support Kingsville’s official stance of opposition to the Ford government’s Strong Mayors Act.

Kingsville saw it’s town council vote unanimously in August to oppose the act after Premier Ford told the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) the legislation could be extended beyond Toronto and Ottawa.

This week, Ford doubled down on that saying Toronto and Ottawa will test the strong mayor powers after Monday’s municipal election but it will extend to other big cities in a year.

The powers will give mayors in applicable cities veto power over bylaws that conflict with provincial priories — though councils could override that veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

Gord Queen is the current representative for Kingsville at the County of Essex council and is seeking re-election as that town’s deputy mayor.

He explained at Wednesday’s meeting that the town feels there’s no place for that kind of power there.

“We can acknowledge the fact that it might be appropriate in a large city like Toronto or Ottawa, but when we at council table, we want to make sure every voice of every member of council is heard,” Queen said.

While the strong mayor powers may make their way to Windsor when the legislation is expanded, it’s unclear if or when they could extend to Kingsville or any community in Essex County.