Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I offer my congratulations to you on your election to the Speaker’s chair—

Interruption.

I’m happy to be speaking as a newly appointed parliamentary assistant to this great ministry. That’s because I’m delighted to have the opportunity to speak about the fine qualities of our government’s bill and its obvious benefits and timeliness.

As you have heard, our proposed changes would provide the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa with additional governance tools, as well as increased powers to align municipal decision-making with provincial priorities. Because our changes are so important, I would like to remind you of them again. These changes would give these two mayors the power to hire and fire the chief administrative officer of the municipality as well as its department heads, and the mayor would be able to create and reorganize departments.

The mayor would also be able to appoint the chairs and vice-chairs of committees and local boards if any are identified in regulation. They would also be able to establish committees. In addition, the mayor would have the power to direct matters of provincial priority for council consideration, and be able to direct staff to prepare proposals.

Perhaps most importantly, the mayor would have the power to develop the municipality’s budget, and then take it to council for consideration. Council would be able to propose amendments to the budget, subject to a mayor’s veto and council override process.

At the same time, the proposed changes in this bill would make the mayor more personally accountable by giving them veto power over bylaws passed by council if, in the mayor’s opinion, it did not further a provincial priority. To counter this, council would be able to override a mayoral veto of a bylaw with a two-thirds majority vote.

The proposed changes would also affect the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act by requiring the mayor to declare any financial interests related to the use of the new powers. They would be prevented from using these new powers where any financial conflict exists.

Our bill, if passed, would also require a by-election be held to replace the mayor if the office becomes vacant. Currently, municipal councils have the choice of holding a by-election or appointing a new mayor.

I want to emphasize that all of the powers and rules I’ve mentioned so far would apply to Toronto and Ottawa only. However, the proposed changes would give the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the regulatory authority to designate other municipalities that these powers could apply to. The minister would also have the regulatory authority to set out in more detail how the new powers can be used.

As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has explained, Toronto and Ottawa were chosen because over one third of the growth in Ontario over the next 10 years is forecasted to take place in these two cities. What’s more is that we were looking for municipalities that are shovel-ready, committed to growth and committed to cutting red tape.

I now want to address some points that have been raised about our government’s proposed legislation. Some have asked why our government is introducing the bill at this time, immediately before a municipal election. The reason is that we need to move quickly to address the province’s housing crisis. Ontario has a housing supply crisis, and we have no time to spare. We also want to ensure that these proposed changes are in place before the new term of council begins in mid-November, so they can hit the ground running.

Some have asked if other municipalities would get these new powers. I must emphasize again that Toronto and Ottawa are the selected municipalities at this time because of their expected growth and because they are shovel-ready. Our government is always open to, at a later date, assessing opportunities to extend these new powers to other growing municipalities where housing is needed.

There are also questions arising about the mayoral veto of bylaws. For that, we have ensured that a system of checks and balances is in place. This includes the tool for two thirds of a council to override a mayoral veto.

Please remember that the mayoral powers to veto bylaws and bring matters forward to council meetings would apply only if related to provincial priorities such as building 1.5 million new homes by 2033. It would also pertain to priorities that revolve around construction and maintenance of critical infrastructure to support accelerated supply and availability of housing, including but not limited to transit, roads, utilities and servicing.

Speaker, these proposed new powers for the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa are needed now. Passage of this proposed legislation will further empower these newly elected mayors when they begin their term of office. It would give them more opportunity to help achieve our shared municipal-provincial priorities. If passed, this legislation would allow us to work more effectively with our municipal partners as we move toward our shared goals of helping more families reach the dream of attainable home ownership.

The fact is, there simply are not enough homes that are attainable for the families who want to call Ontario home. Across the province, no matter where you go, one thing remains the same: Ontarians are having difficulty finding housing that meets their needs and their budgets. We need to help boost housing supply in this province. We need to help our municipal partners get new housing projects approved quicker and empowering mayors to take more responsibility in their communities can help us do that.

I’d like to add that strong-mayor systems work very well in other jurisdictions. The minister referenced some of this in his remarks, but I’d like to take a deeper look at some of those jurisdictions.

Let’s start with New York City. The mayor acts as chief executive officer and does not sit as a member of council. I want to add here that if our proposed legislation is passed, a mayor will still sit on council and every council member will still have one vote. However, similar to what we are proposing, the mayor of New York City may appoint and remove heads of administrations, departments, all commissioners and all other non-elected officers, except as otherwise provided in the law. Also, the mayor of New York City has the power to create or abolish departments or positions within the mayor’s office.

When it comes to budgets, the mayor of New York City develops the budget and any accompanied financial plans and submits them to council for consideration and approval. With regard to veto powers, the mayor of New York City can veto any council decision to add to, increase or place terms on budget items. Council can override a mayoral veto related to the budget with a two-thirds majority vote.

Now, let’s look at Chicago. Just like in New York City, the mayor is the chief executive officer of the city and does not sit on council. However, unlike New York City, the Chicago mayor must obtain council consent to appoint and remove heads of all city departments and officers of the municipality, all commissions, all boards and all agencies, except as otherwise provided in the law. As in New York City, and as proposed by our bill, the mayor of Chicago directs the city’s budget process and submits the city’s annual budget to council for consideration and approval. In Chicago, the mayor can veto any changes council votes to make to the budget and council can override the mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

Now let’s look at Los Angeles. Again, the mayor of Los Angeles is the chief executive officer of the city and does not have a seat on council. The mayor in Los Angeles has the power to create or abolish bureaus, divisions or positions within the executive office of the mayor, including having power to remove certain city officials. Just like in New York, Chicago and our proposed legislation, the mayor of Los Angeles directs the budget and sends it to council for approval. The mayor can veto any changes or additions council makes and, in turn, council can override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

So you see, our proposed legislation is not new or untried, and frankly it is not something we can afford to wait another minute on.

Of course, these proposed changes are part of our government’s greater strategy to increase the supply of attainable housing. We have introduced two housing supply action plans: More Homes, More Choice in 2019, and More Homes for Everyone earlier this year. Both of these plans put forward a list of policy changes to help address housing supply shortages with the aim of getting housing built faster in the province. We also conducted a three-part consultation with industry, municipalities and the public to help identify and implement more solutions to increase housing supply.

One element of our government’s thorough consultation was the creation of the Housing Affordability Task Force. The task force was made up of experts from all across the housing sector. There are representatives from not-for-profit housing, Indigenous housing, real estate, home builders, financial markets and economics. We wanted to ensure everyone was represented.

After speaking with a variety of stakeholders, they developed a thought-provoking report. The list of recommendations in their report focused on the best ways the province can help support the creation of more housing all across Ontario. We know that we have to look further ahead than just the here and now; we have to look at ways we can catch up to the future growth.

As the associate minister pointed out, our goal is to deliver real, long-term solutions using the Housing Affordability Task Force’s recommendations as our housing road map. It will guide us as we work with our partners to develop a new housing supply action plan each year over four years.

Addressing the housing supply crisis is a long-term strategy that requires long-term commitment and partnership at all levels of government. We must ensure municipalities actively support our housing-related policies, and we must look to the best way we can work with our municipal partners to support more residential projects in the years to come. That is why we committed to establishing a housing supply action plan implementation team.

As the associate minister detailed, this new team would be made up of a volunteer chair and up to seven other members representing key housing sectors. The group members will provide advice to the government on monitoring progress and supporting improvements to our annual housing supply action plans. The team members will be tasked with advising on the implementation of our More Homes for Everyone plan, as well as other measures that achieve the vision and objectives of the Housing Affordability Task Force’s recommendations.

The team will also be there to react to any emerging housing priorities and issues identified by our government. We will count on their expertise to help us determine how the initiatives to increase market housing supply would impact the people of Ontario and the best way to implement them in the years ahead.

We want to achieve the best results from our policies, and the Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team will help us get there. In addition to the main team members, they will be supported by additional consultation tables of housing experts who provide technical advice and insights on specific topics.

With all of these layers of expertise, the Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team will provide ongoing confidential advice on market housing initiatives to the minister. We believe this would be the most beneficial way to deal with the ebbs and flows of the ever-changing housing market.

Mr. Speaker, we are standing here today to underline our commitment to help build more homes in communities across the province, faster than we have been seeing in recent years. Strong-mayor systems will empower municipal leaders to work more effectively with the province to reduce timelines for development, standardize processes and address local barriers to increasing the supply of housing.

We are in a housing crisis and we know that every move we make right now is critical to addressing it. We have set out a clear goal: We are building 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years. We will do this through yearly action plans, as well as our newly created Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team to support our initiatives. We are also doing it through other pieces of proposed legislation like the one my colleagues and I have spoken on today.

As the population of Ontario grows, housing needs to keep up. By empowering the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to move forward on shared priority items, we will be doing just that.