A Windsor city councillor wants to restore democratic balance and accountability at city hall.
Speaking on AM800's Mornings with Mike & Meg, ward 9 councillor Kieran McKenzie says he wants Premier Doug Ford and the province to remove Windsor from the list of municipalities governed by the strong mayor powers.
He plans to table a notice of motion at the April 14 city council meeting and is hoping for council's support.
McKenzie wants council to take a stand and says he's always been opposed to strong mayor powers.
"From the moment it was event proposed prior to Toronto or Ottawa even being granted these powers, I've been very vocal about my opposition to the notion of consolidating power in one municipal elected official in any municipality," says McKenzie. "I've been consistent on this issue right from the get go."
He says following the process and the aftermath of the recent Transit Windsor Tunnel Bus decision, he wanted to ask and almost take a temperature check of council members and mayor.
"How we think the strong mayor powers is playing out in our community and whether or not we want to communicate one way or another to the province that we like the framework they they put upon us or if we like it to change back or revert back to the old processes," he says.
McKenzie says if council supports his motion, the ask would be removing Windsor from strong mayor provisions.
"It would be essentially council expressing its opinion to how strong mayor powers are playing out in our community and if they agree with the spirit of the motion, it would be asking the premier and the province of Ontario to remove our community as a strong mayor community," says McKenzie.
McKenzie says the powers allow the mayor to override council decisions, control budget processes, and unilaterally hire or dismiss senior city staff.
Strong mayor powers came into effect in Windsor on July 1, 2023.
According to the city's website, mayor Drew Dilkens has used strong mayor powers 75 times since they came into effect in Windsor.
On Wednesday, the province announced it plans to expand strong mayor powers on May 1 to an addition 169 municipalities.
That includes every single municipality in Essex County, except Pelee Island.
The PC government first granted the powers to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, and since then has expanded them a few times, with the list currently at 47.