Strong mayor powers used to block majority on fractious eastern Ontario council

The mayor of a small, conflict-wracked eastern Ontario council has exercised strong mayor powers, just a month after the controversial measures were extended to new municipalities.

Last week Arie Hoogenboom, the mayor of Rideau Lakes, vetoed a council decision to seek quotes for a plan to renovate the municipal offices of the township located about 100 kilometres southwest of downtown Ottawa.

Whether to upgrade existing offices or build new ones is the source of a long-running and acrimonious dispute that has divided the council. Opposing factions have levelled more than a dozen integrity commissioner complaints against each other.

The existing offices are located in the hamlet of Chantry and require upgrading. Hoogenboom is in favour of relocating the facilities to a more populated area, and believes this measure could facilitate the development of a subdivision. But a majority of council members oppose the idea as too expensive, preferring to renovate existing offices.

In March, Hoogenboom said the atmosphere had grown so toxic that he was temporarily stepping away from some of his duties.

But that didn't stop him last Monday from vetoing a decision by his opponents to send a retrofit and addition plan for the existing municipal offices out to tender.

'So much bigger than the issues in Rideau Lakes'

To invoke the new powers, mayors are required to give a rationale for how the move aligns with provincial priorities. Hoogenboom justified his veto by referring to provincial priorities to build new homes and maintain infrastructure, and said he retained the backing of the local community.

"In the last election I received a significant mandate from the public to build a municipal office," he said in an interview.

"I'm totally convinced that if there was any public consultation on this, the public would clearly indicate that they were in favour of my option."

But Paula Banks, one of five councillors opposed to Hoogenboom, said using the strong mayor powers was undemocratic.

"It's a five-three vote and he was allowed to stop us," she said. "This story is so much bigger than the issues in Rideau Lakes."

On May 1, mayors in 169 Ontario municipalities were given the power to veto bylaws, pass others with just a third of council in favour and fire and hire municipal department heads. The measures were first introduced in 2022 for the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, as a way to advance provincial policy priorities.

Powers 'undemocratic'

But the measures have proven controversial. Banks said she is reaching out to the other municipalities recently awarded strong mayor powers and said most she has heard from are against them.

"The majority of municipalities oppose this," she said. "Our mayors are saying it's a bad idea, our councillors are saying it's undemocratic and the Ford government is just ignoring it."

Banks said she hopes to build a coalition to lobby Premier Doug Ford to rescind the provisions.

In Rideau Lakes, Banks and her four allies passed a resolution at council opposing strong mayor powers and asking to opt out. Hoogenboom was absent from the vote.

After Hoogenboom used his new powers, those five councillors sought to defeat their use but lacked the two-thirds majority needed to do so.

That has left the divided council unable to proceed on a course of action, Hoogenboom said.

"We're still a bit hamstrung," he said, acknowledging that his "mandate is severely compromised."

In the meantime, a decision on what to do about the township's municipal offices will likely have to wait until after elections next year, according to Hoogenboom.

"When there's a good chance that there would be more people who would be willing to row in the same direction," he said.