Mayor’s special powers now on display in quarterly Burlington report

Decisions made through the new special powers granted to Burlington’s mayor will now be available for more public scrutiny.

A recent decision by Burlington council calls for the decisions to be publicly reported every three months.

The report will review the use of strong mayor powers and the decisions that were made by Marianne Meed Ward.

Premier Doug Ford granted strong mayor powers to most mayors across Ontario last year to carry out the provincial government agenda of building homes quickly. The powers also include abilities to hire and fire senior staff, set and form committees and prepare the municipal budget.

Although issuing the report is new, Burlington has been posting strong mayor decisions since it was first implemented. They can be found here.

A total of 18 mayoral decisions have been issued between July 1, 2023 and April 1, 2024.

The move comes in the wake of a dispute that has caused a rift between the mayor and some members of council. Some councillors believe the mayor should relinquish the strong powers. The mayor has decided to delegate some of the strong power decision-making but not all.

Even though the decisions are already available on the city’s website, Meed Ward said she is in favour of the new reporting rules to ensure the community receives accurate information.

“These staff-generated quarterly reports that are presented at committee and posted online as part of the meeting agenda will give the public yet another way to access this information,” she said.