There has been some discussion recently about strong mayor powers and whether a mayor should use them whenever they believe doing so is “favourable to the people.”
Of course a mayor should want what is best for the people. So should every member of Council.
But that raises an important question: who are “the people”?
West Nipissing is almost 15,000 people, spread across many communities and neighbourhoods, with different experiences, priorities and opinions. We aren’t always going to agree. That’s why we elect nine people to represent us.
Council is meant to bring those different perspectives together. We listen, ask questions, debate, challenge ideas, sometimes disagree and ultimately make decisions on behalf of the community.
That’s not a flaw in democracy. That’s how democracy is supposed to work.
Strong mayor legislation gives mayors additional powers in certain circumstances. I have those powers available to me, and I take that responsibility seriously.
But I want to be clear about something: I am not interested in using those powers to bypass Council or to get my preferred outcome.
In fact, I have demonstrated my commitment to democracy by being one of nine.
When we recruited our new CAO, for example, I could have made that appointment myself. Instead, we formed a hiring committee of four Council members who worked through the recruitment process. They brought the three final candidates back to the full Council, and Council selected our new CAO together.
That was a deliberate choice.
The same principle has guided our budget process. Rather than using the additional authority that comes with the strong mayor framework, I have continued to work through the traditional Council process, where councillors can ask questions, bring forward changes and have a meaningful say in the priorities we set for our community.
These aren’t just words about how I believe democracy should work. They’re choices I have made.
If I believe something is in the best interests of West Nipissing, my first responsibility is to make the case to Council. Listen to the concerns. Answer the questions. Be willing to change my approach if someone has a better idea. And if, after all of that, Council doesn’t agree with me, I have to be able to accept that.
Because if something is so divisive that a mayor needs to use their authority to override the will of Council, I think we need to ask ourselves: who exactly are we saying “the people” are?
The people who agree with the mayor? What about the people who don’t? They are residents too. Their councillors were elected too. Their voices matter too. A mayor is elected to represent the whole municipality, not just the people who share their position.
And there is another reason I believe this matters: the team.
Municipal government is not about winning one decision at a time. Council has to work together for years on complicated issues—budgets, infrastructure, roads, water and wastewater, recreation, economic development and major projects.
That requires trust.
When a mayor uses their authority to bypass or override other elected members, it can change the entire dynamic around the table. Councillors can feel that their voices don’t carry the same weight, or that there is little point in trying to work through a disagreement if the mayor can simply use their authority to get the outcome they want.
You may get a decision made, but you can damage the relationships needed to get the next ten decisions made.
You can win a vote and lose the team.
I think that’s an important distinction between authority and leadership.
Leadership isn’t about being able to get your way. It’s about bringing people together, even when they don’t start from the same place. It’s about creating enough trust that people can challenge you, disagree with you and still know they are respected.
I’ve had decisions during this term where my preferred outcome wasn’t the decision of Council. That’s part of the job. My responsibility isn’t to find a way around Council because I didn’t get my way. It’s to respect the decision and continue working with the people around that table.
We haven’t been perfect. We’ve had difficult discussions, difficult decisions and moments when we haven’t all agreed. But I am proud of the team we’ve built and, perhaps most importantly, of our ability to keep working together.
Because the work of a municipality doesn’t stop after one vote.
There are always more decisions to make, more problems to solve and more work to do. We need a Council that trusts one another enough to have the difficult conversations and then come back to the table ready to work together.
The strongest mayor isn’t the one who has the most power. It’s the one who can bring people together without having to use it.
And ultimately, “the people” aren’t just the people who agree with the mayor.
The people are all of us.