HALDIMAND—It was a packed house in Haldimand’s Council chambers on Monday, July 14, 2025 for a discussion with municipal and land use planning lawyer John Mascarin of Aird and Berlis LLP over the use of strong mayor powers (SMP) by Haldimand Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley.
While many residents wanted answers on why the mayor used those powers recently to fire former County CAO Cathy Case, the mayor did not attend.
Ward 1 Councillor Debera McKeen sent out a statement before the meeting about her own absence: “I do not have any lingering questions regarding the SMP, nor do I possess any expertise in answering questions related to it. If I have future questions, I have been instructed to contact our in-house legal team for advice,” she said, noting she was deep in preparation for her Ontario Land Tribunal appeal of Haldimand’s decision to add a seventh ward councillor; coverage of this will be in the July 24 edition.
Two delegations began the July 14 Council meeting. First, Lesley Powell delivered a strong rebuke of the mayor’s recent actions: “We are deeply concerned about the misuse and long-term consequences of the strong mayor powers,” said Powell. “As we’ve seen here … in the wrong hands, these powers are not a pathway to progress, they’re a vehicle for unchecked authority.”
She railed against Case’s firing, calling it a “blatant misuse of authority that has left residents across this municipality stunned and outraged.”
Powell urged concerned residents to sign the online petition at change.org asking Bentley to step down: “We demand a leader who represents all taxpayers, not just a small circle of people with the same agenda as the mayor,” concluded Powell. “I oppose strong mayor powers and I oppose the continuation of Shelley Ann Bentley as our mayor.”
Next, Dunnville Chamber of Commerce President Marianne Kidd urged Council to motion for the powers to be rescinded.
“It’s damaging Haldimand County’s reputation,” she said. “Council approved projects are now caught in political crossfire; it jeopardizes timelines and investor confidence in our community and the mayor’s erratic leadership and public controversies – one after the other – are damaging our reputation as a stable, pro-business municipality.”
Kidd said there was no written rationale for Case’s firing and that Bentley made the decision without Council being informed, asserting that undermines democracy.
She concluded, “Leadership is not about power, it’s about responsibility. The people of Haldimand are watching, and we deserve better.”
Mascarin then guided Council through an in-depth presentation on the history and rules of strong mayor powers, noting how unlike many municipalities that received a generic letter for the powers, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack wrote a letter directly to Bentley on the topic.
Asked by Councillor Rob Shirton about rescinding the powers, Mascarin confirmed the only way to do so would be persuading the provincial government – something he said many municipalities tried and failed to do earlier this year when the powers expanded.
Mascarin expressed his belief that the government plans to roll the powers out to all 444 municipalities in the province ahead of the October 2026 municipal election.
“The power is at the Province. Unless you have the Province trying to say something about it, you’re not going to get very far,” he added.
Councillor Dan Lawrence asked about turning back the “hands of time to make a wrong a right” regarding Case’s termination specifically. Mascarin iterated, “Unless there is provincial legislation, you won’t be able to do anything about these powers.”
Asked again later how Council might challenge that decision, Mascarin said an immunity provision in the legislation states any decision made by the mayor using the powers cannot be reviewed or quashed, as long as it was made legally and in good faith.
“Decisions made under SMP may still be challenged in the courts if they’re done illegally or done in bad faith,” he noted.
Councillor Patrick O’Neill asked Mascarin to describe how other municipalities have adopted to the powers.
“It varies across the board,” he responded. “There was a mayor that has used them something like 56 times already for a whole variety of things: moving forward legislation, seeking to veto legislation, changing the head of the administration, reorganizing the organizational structure of the municipality, and so forth…. There are some mayors who have been very judicious in their use, and there are some mayors who don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Mascarin also noted that the majority of council members he’s spoken to in Ontario do not like the strong mayors legislation.
“Most councils have said ‘we don’t need this, we don’t think it’s democratic, it’s topsy-turvying a system that’s been in place for many years in Ontario,’” he said.
Councillor Brad Adams alleged Mascarin was presenting slanted information, asking if Mascarin himself was a fan of the legislation.
“I don’t think it’s good legislation. I think it’s atrociously dangerous,” Mascarin replied.
Despite that sentiment, Mascarin added, “I’ve been saying to many municipalities, get over it. You have to now work in a different way with this because it is now in place until the provincial government changes it.”
Adams argued that the Ford government that enacted the legislation was elected democratically and advised the County to work with MPP Bobbi Ann Brady to advocate for any desired legislation changes regarding the powers, a suggestion that drew laughter from some in the audience.
Adams also commented on the mayor’s absence, asserting she had agreed to two other meeting dates but “Council voted to not wait until next week, but to do it tonight when she was unavailable.”
O’Neill compared Bentley’s absence to the late Councillor Stewart Patterson: “Yes, she is on a scheduled vacation, which everyone has the right to, however, I do know multiple councillors who have been on scheduled vacations and still found their way to virtually attend or get here in some way. It’s a choice,” he said. “Councillor Patterson, when he was going through his (cancer) treatments, he still made time to get here virtually, literally in his car after treatment he would show up, because it mattered that much.”
Councillor Lawrence suggested an improbability of Haldimand being able to meet the housing targets the mayor agreed to in accepting the powers. Mascarin responded that the provincial legislation offers no information on whether the powers might be rescinded in the event a municipality fails to meet their housing targets.
Additionally, interim CAO Mark Merritt said the County has not received any funding as a result of the mayor’s decision; the 2022 SMP legislation promised those who meet their development targets are eligible for up to $3 million in provincial funding.
“We’ve had no formal announcement of any funding at this point in time,” said Merritt.
To view the full meeting, visit Haldimand County’s website and search for the Council meeting calendar.
Stay tuned to next week’s paper for a breakdown of the night’s second meeting, centred on the recruitment process and expenses related to hiring a new CAO to replace Cathy Case.
