Councillor says N.S. could give Halifax ‘strong mayor powers’

A Halifax councillor claims the provincial government is considering giving so-called “strong mayor powers” to the municipality’s mayor.

“I’m told from folks I know in the provincial government that they’re modelling it on sort of what Ontario has done in giving strong mayor powers to some municipalities there, giving the potential to override council on certain decisions, hire and fire staff, etc.,” said district 9 Councillor Shawn Cleary in an interview with the Todd Veinotte Show. “Which, in my opinion anyway, endangers our direct democracy through the municipality.”

Cleary’s comments come after Mayor Andy Fillmore’s motion to pause new bike lanes amid ballooning costs and congestion concerns was defeated by council last week.

Following council’s decision, Premier Tim Houston said traffic in Halifax is “brutal” and he believed the mayor was on the “right track.”

“I think he’s on the right topic, for sure, on traffic congestion,” Houston told reporters last week. “I think the motion to say, can we have a discussion about the cost, about the location, that makes sense to me.”

Those comments are not sitting well with Cleary.

“The premier has certainly made it a practice to comment on and wade into municipal affairs here in Halifax multiple times,” he said. “Clearly, he has his own vision on how things should work here, and now, because he’s the premier, he gets to basically run Halifax through Andy (Fillmore).”

Ontario’s strong mayor powers give mayors the ability to propose by-laws or veto by-laws that benefit or interfere with “provincial priorities.”

Cleary said he’s been told Fillmore is “looking forward” to getting strong mayor powers and has been in regular communication with the premier on the issue.

“In all the things we do, we engage the public and have consultations and open forums,” Cleary said. “We have a huge amount of input from the residents of Halifax in almost everything we do. And yet what we have now is a situation where the premier will override it.”

Asked if he was insinuating the premier would use the mayor as a sort of “proxy,” Cleary said, “that’s what I’m told.”

In response to Cleary’s comments, Mayor Fillmore said he was surprised by what the councillor had to say.

“I was elected by more than 50,000 residents across the Halifax Regional Municipality, including by 4,576 voters in the councillor’s own district compared to 2,578 votes he received,” Fillmore said in a statement. “That’s a clear mandate to lead, and to work in partnership with all orders of government to deliver results for our city.”

“It’s not in Halifax’s interests to be offside with the province,” Fillmore added. “My focus is on working collaboratively to address the big challenges we face – affordability, housing, and congestion, and not to focus on speculation and rumours.”

The premier’s office meantime did not deny having “discussions” about the inner-workings of the municipality.

“We are always evaluating best practices to support municipalities to function effectively, and, yes, that includes having discussions about what the public reasonably expects their mayor to be able to do and not do,” reads a statement from the premier’s office.

Cleary said strong mayor powers aren’t needed if you have a “strong leader.”

“If you look at (Fillmore’s) past actions since he’s been elected, the conclusion one might draw is no, he’s not.”

Cleary said his understanding is that strong mayor powers will be brought in this fall.