Kingsville has approved a notice of motion to pass a petition to the Government of Ontario regarding the province's plan for special mayor powers.
The Government of Ontario, through the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, has introduced Bill 3 which is described as "An Act to amend various statutes with respect to special powers and duties of heads of council".
If this Bill is enacted, it would initially apply to the City of Toronto and City of Ottawa, but will later be expanded to include other municipalities according to a statement made by the Premier at the 2022 AMO annual conference.
If enacted it would give Mayors additional authority and powers, and correspondingly take away authority and powers from Councils and professional staff.
Gord Queen, Kingsville Deputy Mayor, says it was a great motion brought forward by councillor Kim DeYong.
He says councillor DeYong was not the only one who brought up the concerns of Bill 3.
"Basically our staff helped, there were a number of councillors that had expressed similar concerns, and all we're trying to do is get in the public record and make sure that the province realizes we don't need it."
He says he doesn't believe that any municipalities need this Bill in place.
"We don't need to give special power to mayors. We're not trying to protect anybody, regardless of whether you're mayor or deputy mayor, or filling in for the mayor."
Queen says if the Bill is enacted, the Chief Administrative Officer would only listen to the mayor.
"The way that it's structured now, it recognizes the common practice of actually listening to council. If you go with a direction that has been suggested, then all the CAO would listen to is the mayor himself, or herself."