Beginning with major reforms to the Municipal Act in 2001, the Ontario Government has given municipalities increased discretionary power. Gone is the old “laundry list” approach, under which a municipality had to find specific authority in provincial legislation if it wished to take some initiative. Now municipalities are authorized to take action within broad spheres of jurisdiction and to provide any service or thing considered necessary or desirable for the public. A number of court decisions (including those of the Supreme Court of Canada) have supported this new approach, holding that municipalities need flexibility in the way they carry out their responsibilities so that they can adapt to changing conditions.
Taking
In a classic give and take approach, however, provincial actions suggest that municipalities can have additional powers as long as they are subjected to increased scrutiny and review. To this end, 2006 saw a number of oversight mechanisms mandated for the City of Toronto and authorized – initially on an optional basis – for all other municipalities. Legislative amendments in 2014 authorized the Ontario Ombudsman (a fierce and unrelenting critic of municipalities when André Morin held that position) to investigate appeals of decisions made by municipal integrity commissioners and lobbyist registrars, two of the oversight officers that municipalities had been authorized to appoint in 2006. Recent amendments (in Bill 68) now require municipalities to provide for an integrity commissioner.
As others, like the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks, and Treasurers of Ontario (AMCTO) have pointed out, Ontario Government actions over the past decade have focused on increasing the transparency and accountability that is allegedly lacking at the municipal level. Legislators in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones! Provincial and federal governments are almost totally lacking in transparency. Policy deliberations take place behind the shield of cabinet secrecy. There are frequent reports of the inability to obtain information in spite of the existing of legislation that is supposed to ensure freedom of information. As has sometimes been observed facetiously, the provincial and federal levels have three categories of information: classified, top secret, and “destroy before reading.”
Governing in a Goldfish Bowl
In contrast to the closed shop that prevails at the provincial and federal levels, municipalities operate in a goldfish bowl. Their activities are usually closely – and critically – covered by the local media. Council discussions take place in open meetings, often carried on local Cable TV, and it is common to see municipal staff answering questions and participating in the formulation of council policy. In contrast, public servants are not even allowed on the floor of the provincial legislature or federal House of Commons; all their advice is offered in secret.
Yes, I am well aware that municipal governments can be secretive as well. After 50 years of working in the field, I know about the non-meeting meetings, the informal meeting in the car on the way to the meeting, the unofficial meeting in a local watering hole after the meeting, and so on. Nonetheless, I find the Ontario Government’s operating premise that municipalities lack transparency quite hypocritical.
Municipalities Need to Build on Their Strength
Public opinion polls consistently show that municipalities are regarded as the most accessible and the most trusted level of government and they need to capitalize on the favourable position they now occupy in public esteem. They need to commit to ethical behaviour, to openness, to strengthening bonds with the local community, to building public trust.
There is no doubt that municipalities will play an increasingly important role, especially cities and regions within an increasingly competitive global environment. We don’t want such important governments hobbled by excessive and arguably unnecessary provincial oversight agencies. Continuing to build public trust is a readily available defence against such provincial action and demonstrating a strong commitment to ethical behaviour is one of the best ways to build that trust. Behaving ethically isn’t just the right thing to do; it is also the smart thing to do when municipalities are confronted with a provincial level determined to take as much as it gives!