LaSalle Mayor Crystal Meloche is adding her voice to the chorus of local officials that have come out against the expansion of strong mayor powers.
Earlier this month, the Ford government announced the expansion of strong mayor powers to leaders in 169 more municipalities, including LaSalle.
The powers give mayors the ability to override some council decisions, fire and hire senior staff, and veto bylaws.
The province says expanding the powers starting May 1 will allow municipalities to build infrastructure and homes faster.
Meloche says she realizes the town cannot decline or opt out of the powers.
"What I plan to do, at least in the Town of LaSalle, is to be able to delegate that authority back to the CAO, and back to members of council the way it currently is now because I personally believe in the democratic process," said Meloche.
"I think we had an election for a reason, we have seven people sitting around that horseshoe for a reason, and I believe everyone's voices should be heard and each vote matters."
The deadline to provide feedback to the province was April 16 and Meloche says she personally reached out to Premier Doug Ford informing him of her position.
"Strong mayor powers, any mayor that comes along can make those changes, so it'll be interesting to see what the province has to say, I know the discussion period is kind of closed, and so we'll wait to hear what the next steps are," said Meloche.
Meloche says she's cautious about being too vocal on speaking out.
"At the end of the day I need to work with the province," she said. "I apply to the province for funding, I apply to them to get some assistance with some of our development, so I'm not looking to destroy our relationship with them, but I want them to absolutely know where we stand on this subject."
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens was granted strong mayor powers in 2023, and has used them 75 times since then.
Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff was also granted the powers in 2023 and sent two letters to the province in opposition, however the municipality was still added to the legislation.
