Reconsidering the Strength of the Mayor
Last week’s discussion ultimately left me wanting a more clear and rigorous characterization of the type of place where the majority of the world resides. The lecture and readings both made clear that there is no universal definition for a city. Though the term is widely used, it was clear that people are probably referring to vastly different things when identifying an area as a “city” or as “urban.” Though the difficulty lies in the fact that every city is unique and ever-changing such that any definition might not stand the test of time or fully capture what the city is or means to its residents. Because of the exponential growth of urban populations in both absolute and relative terms, it is critical for policymakers to understand things through an urban lens to be able to properly address social objectives for all Canadians.
One aspect of city life that fascinates me is governance. On one hand, municipal politicians are not constrained by party politics, but at the same time the absence of party structures, the status of municipalities constitutionally, and the nature of many municipal issues, weaken the political power of city officeholders.
The absence of strictures was apparent to me when I worked in the federal government in 2020 after having worked on John Tory’s mayoral re-election campaign in 2019. I was shocked by the constraints placed on elected officials by the party whips and by the federal system. In the municipal setting, the mayor and his team had full reign to design their platform pledges based on political considerations without adherence to a party or any other limitations.
Conversely, municipalities have no constitutional standing (being creatures of provincial legislatures, without powers of their own), don’t have the strength and machinery of party politics, and though they deal in important daily issues the demands of the role are often very local. In particular, the discussion on the role and authority of a weak mayor reminded me of the type of events in which I would participate during my time working on the campaign. One day I was on my daily pandemic walk when my neighbour stopped to chat with me. He noted his support for the mayor, saying that he likes him because he promised to attend the unveiling of his new sculpture of a bench on his lawn (for context, the neighbour’s previous bench was a rather well-known landmark with couples flocking to the bench for photo-ops, it had been recently stolen and received a great deal of attention for a private sculpture). The goal during the election was to have Mayor Tory be seen by constituents as a model citizen and a reputable representative for Toronto, and that goal seemed to have been achieved. This was especially important for Mayor Tory and his team as the mayor to follow Rob Ford. Being respectable as a leader is essential for garnering votes from councillors across the city, as evidenced by Rob Ford’s poor track record. But should Canadian mayors have bigger responsibilities given the fact that most of the country lives in a city?
