HALDIMAND—Following in Norfolk’s footsteps, Haldimand Council voted 4-3 on September 19 to reject the offer of strong mayor powers offered by Premier Doug Ford last month. Before the decision could be ratified on September 25, however, Councillor Rob Shirton requested a two-week deferral on the matter.
“I’m thinking there’s other municipalities like us that are in the same boat,” said Shirton, sharing his hope that if municipalties joined together with the same ask, then they could pressure the Province to offer the housing target-related financial rewards without the County having to accept the strong mayor powers.
The original vote followed a robust discussion led by Community and Development Services Manager Mike Evers. He said that Haldimand’s provincially mandated target is 4,200 homes by 2031, or 467 new units per year. This is 12-13% higher than the average number of units produced locally over the last five years. He iterated then that the acceptance of powers would be tied directly to the acceptance of that assigned target.
“The second thing the Province has asked for is a municipal housing pledge. That’s due by December 15,” he added, characterizing the pledge as “strategies and options on how to meet the target of 4,200 new homes.”
Evers noted that County staff have co-ordinated with colleagues from other municipalities and sought clarification from their Ministry representative on what the Province would deem a new unit in accordance with the pledge, but said, “It’s still fairly grey coming from that office.”
He continued, “Best I can determine from speaking to my colleagues is it’s permits. That makes sense, because if you’re approving a 500-lot subdivision, it’s not putting shovels in the ground, it’s not moving forward the Province’s intent of having homes built. It only makes sense that it would relate to the number of permits issued.”
Councillor Lawrence questioned the Provincial logic behind assigned housing targets when development is market dictated.
“That’s actually one of the concerns we have as staff as well,” replied Evers. “We can lay the groundwork and put in place supportive zoning, ensure we have capacity in our infrastructure systems, that we have expedited permitting processes … but we’re not the ones who put the shovel in the ground…. It’s a developer’s decision.”
Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley commented on the requirement to accept strong mayor powers: “It would be an insult to have a strong mayor up here. I would hope that each councillor would represent their constituents, would listen to them, and bring their concerns to the table. Having a strong mayor up here to veto it is nonsense.”
Councillor John Metcalfe hinted at the offer being undemocratic, noting, “In order to get that money you have to play ball with the government, which is a ‘putting the carrot before the donkey’ thing, threatening municipalities by taking away the grassroots ability to govern at a local level.”
Councillor Trainer inquired then how the government funding would work under the current offer, if the County accepted it.
“We were asking the same question,” said Evers. “The Province says they’re still working through those details.… They have signalled it will be for infrastructure that would be supportive of residential development.”
County CAO Cathy Case added, “What we do know through a rough calculation is that if the housing target is accepted and we can meet it, we would get slightly over $1 million for the next three years.”
However, she doesn’t believe in the Provincial promise to make counties whole if they pledge support: “We’re not confident the degree of funding they’ve offered to date would make us whole, in fact we’re quite confident it will not.”
Patterson advised caution in rejecting the offer: “Politically we have to be careful, because we went and made multiple delegations asking the Province for millions and millions of dollars. If we turn this offer down, how’s that going to play out down the road?”
Bentley countered, “I know Haldimand County residents, and I know they don’t want to become a city. They like their rural ways. This $3 million the government is throwing in our face is an insult…. What’s that going to buy, a piece of pipe that runs a couple of miles?”
She dug her heels in further, adding, “The only reason the Province wants to issue strong mayor powers is to build more homes. I know that; I’m not an idiot. I would be hopeful we could all work together and come to a resolution and build the homes we want to see, not what is dictated by the Federal government or the Province.”
Lawrence called the offer “extortion … especially when it’s so minimal compared to what we use in our budgets.”
Metcalfe also considered what unforeseen impacts strong mayor powers could have, noting, “We don’t know what we’re going to get in the future. It’s another way for the Province to manipulate local governments. If they get a favourable mayor in this area, a lot of things can really go south with no local representation or voice. I can’t support it.”
Patterson persisted, “I really think it would be slightly naïve of us to think that by saying no to this there’s not going to be an impact down the road.”
Bentley concluded the first meeting, “The strong mayor powers seem to be a dictatorship from the Province…. They’re just going to tell me what to do, and I’d rather have conversations with my councillors about what we should be doing to progress Haldimand County.… I’m going to be in this seat for some time. The few people that want me out are not going to get me out as easily as they think. I’ll be sitting here for some time.”
The September 19 meeting saw Councillors Patterson, Trainer, and Shirton vote in favour of accepting the powers and submitting a housing pledge, while Bentley and Councillors O’Neill, Lawrence, and Metcalfe won the majority to vote down the offer.
On Monday evening, following Shirton’s request to defer the ratification of last week’s vote, Lawrence doubled down on his doubts, “As we move forward, the targets they’re putting on us … I don’t see that it can be achieved. Furthermore, the fact that they dictated that to us on any level goes against all common sense.”
Bentley concluded, “I see the emails our Planning Department gets from the Housing Minister. Every week it changes. Again, just a couple days ago, we received another one with different information…. Who’s to say if we accept this they won’t come back in a week and say, ‘your 4,200 is now 5,200, oh and by the way, we don’t like your CAO, so you need to get rid of her and replace her with someone else. We suggest this person.’ … Let’s take control of Haldimand County…. I don’t know why we think we need a dictatorship from our Provincial government.”
Once again, the vote was split 4-3 in favour of deferring the matter to the October 10 Council in Committee meeting.
