Premier Doug Ford’s government gave the mayors of more than 200 Ontario cities expansive new “strong mayor” powers that would allow them to override council and veto decisions in order to push through important city business.
Now, the Ford government is warning those mayors their special powers have an exception: police budgets.
In a letter sent to mayors and police boards across the province last month, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner and Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack warned that strong mayor powers do not include the ability to limit police budget increases or veto estimates of individual line items.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
It is not clear what prompted the letter, which was first reported by the Sarnia Journal in its coverage of that city’s battle over police spending.
The Ministry of the Solicitor General did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Its distribution comes at a tense time for policing in Ontario. Last Thursday, a month after the letter was sent, York Regional Police announced that a major criminal corruption probe nicknamed Project South had resulted in dozens of charges against seven Toronto police officers and one retiree.
Two more police officers in Toronto and three in Peel region have been suspended in relation to the probe but not criminally charged, the Star reported. Earlier this week, the province’s inspector general of policing announced a review of all 45 police forces in Ontario.
Wages behind Toronto police increase
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, whose 2026 budget included a $94-million increase for the Toronto police, confirmed she had received the letter, but said it didn’t factor into her decision-making. She has described the police budget bump as the unavoidable result of wage increases promised in a new collective agreement. Chow previously vowed not to use her veto powers, describing them as undemocratic.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley called the province’s letter “arrogance” and a “huge intrusion” into local government.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
“They’re saying that every mayor and council in this province has no right to contain police spending,” Bradley said.
The battle in Sarnia stems from the police force’s request for $5 million to build a new headquarters. Bradley, who wants the police to renovate their existing headquarters, used the veto powers he was granted under strong mayor legislation to reject that capital cost request. He says this move was supported by taxpayers in his city, which recently became debt-free.
Police budgets are often municipalities’ most expensive service, eating up 30 to 40 per cent of the total budget, he added, calling cities’ struggle to manage policing costs a “huge issue.”
The letter “is a licence for every police board to go wild,” Bradley said.
In Peel, where police funding submissions go to the regional government, Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish said she interprets strong mayor powers as applying only to city budgets, not to police budgets set by arm’s-length boards.
Ford grants strong mayor powers
The Ford government in 2022 granted so-called strong mayor powers to the leaders of Toronto and Ottawa, arguing they needed wide latitude — including the ability to veto council decisions, hire and fire top officials, and set the annual budget — in order to expedite the construction of housing and other provincial priorities. The province has since expanded access to those powers to 216 of Ontario’s 444 municipalities, the smallest of which has fewer than 400 residents.
While the January letter says mayors cannot use these powers to “limit police service board budget increases or veto estimates submitted by police service boards,” it also writes that municipalities are not required to adopt a police board’s budget estimates as submitted. The Ministry of the Solicitor General also didn’t respond to requests to clarify those statements.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW A ‘mixed message’ on police
Gabriel Eidelman, director of the University of Toronto’s Urban Policy Lab, said it appears the Ford government accidentally left gaps or “blind spots” in the 2022 strong mayor legislation and subsequent regulations, and is now trying to patch the holes.
“I don’t think the intention of strong mayor powers was to give mayor more powers over policing. But if you’re giving someone strong mayor power over the budget, it should include all city services. In many municipalities that includes a local police force. Why does that not apply?” he said.
“This directive from the province seems to be a mixed message … are these strong mayors or are they not?”
Rising police costs a concern
Other mayors told the Star that the province’s letter had not impacted their handling of budget requests. They said, however, their municipalities are grappling with escalating police costs.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who described himself as a police “friendly” — he once wanted to be a cop — said in an interview that “the trajectory for police budgets is unsustainable.”
Dilkens said the letter was not relevant to Windsor because the police board, on which he sits, takes an active role in pushing back on cost increases, reducing the need for big changes later at council. The Windsor Police Service will see a four per cent increase this year in an otherwise austere budget that Dilkens described as necessary to hold property taxes down at a time when unemployment is rising in his city as a result of U.S. tariffs.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
London Mayor Josh Morgan said that the letter didn’t change his understanding of the role of council in approving or altering police budgets, but agreed rising police budgets are a major concern for municipalities.
Morgan said he and other mayors had raised these concerns with the province and, recently, in a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Funding from other levels of government “haven’t been adequate to address all the public safety needs,” Morgan said, citing increasingly complex investigations involving international criminal organizations.
“We’ve been raising our budgets to try to address and support that, but we need continued support in that space.”
Politics Headlines Newsletter Get the latest news and unmatched insights in your inbox every evening
Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request.
There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again.
Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up This newsletter is only available for subscribers. If you are already a subscriber, please login now. If you want to become subscriber, please click here Yes, I’d also like to receive customized content suggestions and promotional messages from the Star.
You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply.
Politics Headlines Newsletter You’re signed up! You’ll start getting Politics Headlines in your inbox soon.
Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page.
