Potential Amendments to Three Key Pieces of Municipal Legislation
On November 16, 2016, the provincial government announced the introduction of Bill 68, Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, 2016, which would make legislative amendments to three important pieces of municipal legislation: the Municipal Act, 2001, the City of Toronto Act, 2006, and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
A public review was undertaken between June and October 2015, with a focus on how to help local governments be more open, flexible and accountable to the people they serve, while boosting public confidence in the rules governing local elected officials.
Access a full copy of the bill here. It is currently still being debated as part of its second reading.
Some of the proposed changes include the following:
Accountability and Transparency
- Requiring municipalities to put into place codes of conduct for members of municipal council and local boards;
- Providing both the public and municipal councillors with access to integrity commissioners with broadened powers to investigate complaints, provide advice and initiate investigations related to conflicts of interest and the municipality’s code of conduct;
- Updating the definition of “meeting” in certain areas of the legislation to help clarify rules for municipal officials, local board members and the public; and
- Providing a broader range of penalties for contraventions of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
Municipal Financial Sustainability
- Expanding municipal investment powers for municipalities that meet certain criteria, which may help better fund repairs and replacements of local infrastructure.
This change is expected to enable municipalities to invest according to the “prudent investor standard”, which may lead to better investment returns through more diverse investment portfolios.
Responsive and Flexible Service Delivery
- Clarifying that municipalities may enact climate change by-laws and play a role in long-term planning for energy use, which could help address the impacts of climate change in their communities;
- Requiring reviews of regional council composition after every second municipal election, beginning in 2018, to strengthen democratic representation at the local level;
- Affirming a municipality’s power to establish and determine the composition of community councils;
- Strengthening democratic representation at the local level by proposing that the heads of most regional councils be elected to help ensure they are accountable to the voters they represent (incorporated as part of the Building Ontario Up for Everyone Act (Budget Measures), 2016.
If you have questions about the Ontario Municipal Board or any aspect of municipal, land use planning, or development law, please contact one of our lawyers.