Gretzky: Strong Mayor powers don’t work for our communities, just look at Windsor

WINDSOR – MPP Lisa Gretzky (Windsor West), who earlier this year tabled motion 17 at Queen’s Park to repeal the Ford government’s Strong Mayor Powers, issued the following statement in response to new reporting from CBC that Windsor and Toronto have used strong mayor powers more often than any other city in Ontario:

“Strong mayor powers don’t make our cities stronger… they make them less democratic. The CBC report shows Windsor’s mayor has used these powers more than 80 times, shutting out council and, by extension, the people of Windsor.

“This is exactly what I’ve warned about from the start. Instead of collaboration and transparency, these powers reduce elected councils to little more than advisory bodies, silencing the voices that represent our neighbourhoods and putting professional public servants in a truly impossible position. Under strong mayor powers, CAOs and other staff risk being pressured into following the mayor’s personal and political agenda rather than giving critical and impartial guidance.

“We’ve already seen the mayor use a veto to shut down the Windsor–Detroit tunnel bus against the will of council and the community. That’s not democracy, that’s one person overriding the voices of the people they were elected to serve.

“At the end of the day, we elect councillors to represent us, not to be overruled by one mayor acting unilaterally. If this government truly wanted to solve housing and infrastructure challenges, it would empower communities and councils to plan together, not concentrate power in one office.”