SIOUX LOOKOUT – Officials in Sioux Lookout say they are surprised to be included on a list of 169 communities to which the province intends to offer strong mayor powers.
Mayor Doug Lawrance, in a release issued on Monday, said the news caught them off guard.
"We have not requested these powers, and the notice came as a surprise to us. We will be carefully examining the impacts for Sioux Lookout and reviewing this matter further once more information is available,” Lawrance said.
Strong mayor powers, currently in place in 47 communities across Ontario, provide enhanced authority to mayors in certain areas, including budgeting, appointing and removing senior staff and advancing provincial priorities.
They were first introduced by Premier Doug Ford, who touted the new powers as a way to help accelerate the increase of housing supply in Ontario to help solve the housing crisis.
Lawrance said regardless of what decision is made, the municipality remains committed to transparency and accountability.
“During my time in office, our Council has always worked collaboratively to make thoughtful, informed decisions in the best interest of our community. We have not encountered situations where the use of strong mayor powers would have been necessary or advantageous,” he said.
“I remain fully committed to democratic decision-making and will approach this new authority with extreme diligence and responsibility.”
Several other Northwestern Ontario communities are on the expanded list.
Included communities include Atikokan, Dryden, Fort Frances, Kenora, Neebing, Greenstone.
Thunder Bay was given strong mayor powers on Oct. 31, 2023, during the province’s second round of providing access.
Earlier this month, Greenstone Mayor Jamie McPherson said it was nice to have the option of strong mayor powers, but it’s not something he’d implement without it being discussed around the council table.
I’m just going through it now, the letter from the minister, and I guess anything that will help us to improve housing and infrastructure we’ve got to look at,” McPherson said Wednesday.
“Reading the bullet points, those are the ones that would be probably most beneficial to any community because we all need to work on our infrastructure, we all need to work on housing.”
-- With files from Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
