Broader range of penalties proposed for municipal legislation
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
The province is proposing a number of changes to the way municipalities do business, including giving the laws governing local politicians a little more teeth.
In a collection of proposed changes to the Municipal Act, the City of Toronto Act and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, the province intends to give municipalities more autonomy when it comes to their investment power, while at the same time ensuring proper rules are in place for councillors and that those rules are followed.
Among the proposed changes will be stricter penalties for those councillors breaking the Conflict of Interest Act. These penalties include a 90-day suspension without pay or disqualifying the member of council. If there was a financial gain, a judge would also be able to order a member or former member of council to make restitution to those suffering the loss.
Municipalities will also have more power when it comes to the amount of green construction they desire in new developments, perhaps even making it a requirement for new builds.
“During consultation, municipalities told us that they prefer a clear legislative mandate to take action on climate change and implement initiatives,” says Conrad Speowka, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
“The proposed changes would better position municipalities to become leaders in addressing climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
The province is also looking to allow municipalities to expand their investment powers by allowing cities to invest according to the prudent investor standard, which according to Spezowka, requires cities to invest while consdering practical standards such as return on investment along with inflationary pressures, but also “to appropriately diversify investments and to seek the advice that a prudent investor would obtain.”
The intent of allowing municipalities to invest in such a manner is diversification of portfolios and potentially improve returns to help pay for much needed infrastructure projects.
“The proposed changes will promote municipal financial flexibility in how they invest their money, which may help municipalities better finance repairs and replacements of local infrastructure,” Spezowka says.
Collectively, the changes under Bill 68, the Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, 2016, passed its first reading on Nov. 16 and has received a second reading as recently as Dec. 6. However, no further timeline was provided for the next step of approval.
“The government will work with all parties to ensure it progresses through the House as quickly as possible,” says Spezowka.
Currently, no new penalties have been proposed to the Municipal Act.