Ontario is running out of time to beef up rules that would crack down on negligent and misbehaving municipal politicians ahead of the next civic election, some experts and opposition critics warn.
The minister in charge of the file says he still plans to act ahead of the October vote, but critics say progress to pass the proposed law appears to be stalled.
The Progressive Conservative government has pushed Bill 9, dubbed the Municipal Accountability Act, nearly to the legislative finish line. The province took the bill on the road last summer with a touring committee to gather feedback and pledged to have the new law in place ahead of the Oct. 26 municipal vote. But nominations for elections in the province’s 444 municipalities open on May 1.
Municipal law expert John Mascarin said he’s concerned the province is running out of time to pass the bill.
“If it’s going to do something, the province better move quickly,” Mascarin said. “That way anyone who is running for office will know that potentially, there’s this theoretical idea up there, that they could be removed if they’re a very, very bad actor.”
This is the PC government’s third attempt to introduce legislation aimed at addressing serious misconduct by municipal councillors. The move comes after years of requests from municipal politicians and staff for tools to deal with allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and ethics abuses.
The government re-introduced the legislation last May after it died on the order paper when the snap election was called by Premier Doug Ford in early 2025.
Ford government reviewing municipal code of conduct amid Pickering council dispute
The new bill would require a local integrity commissioner to investigate misconduct allegations. If that person believed a breach of the code of conduct warranted a politician’s removal, the case would be passed on to Ontario’s integrity commissioner for review.
If that watchdog also recommends removal, the case would be passed back to the local council for a decision within 30 days. A councillor could only be removed by a unanimous vote of all the council members who are not the subject of the complaint.
Mascarin said the bill is “fatally flawed” and he would still like to see the government amend its plan to put the ultimate decision in the hands of a judge.
“It’s almost next to impossible to get any kind of unanimity at the local level on anything that’s even just quasi-contentious,” Mascarin said. “My prediction is it’s never going to work.”
Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack said Tuesday that his goal is to pass the legislation ahead of the municipal election. It still needs to pass a third and final reading vote and receive royal assent to become law, but he couldn’t say when that will happen.
“I can’t tell you where it is in the legislative agenda right now, but yes, our goal is to get it passed,” Flack said. “We’d like to see unanimous support, but we’re still working with the integrity commissioner to make sure we get it right.”
Liberal municipal affairs critic Stephen Blais said the government needs to give ministry staff enough time to prepare materials on the changes for candidates in this fall’s election. While he’d still like to see changes to the existing bill, he’d rather see it passed than have no improvement at all.
“Is there still time? Yes,” Blais said. “Is the government quickly running out of time? Yes … It leads me to believe that perhaps the government isn’t really interested in moving forward.”
NDP municipal affairs critic Jeff Burch, who is also a former city councillor, also said work on the bill has appeared to stall. He’s urging the government to pass it ahead of the elections this fall.
“It’s really kind of disheartening that the government doesn’t seem to feel any sense of urgency or even respect for the people that have been asking for this legislation,” he said. “It just discourages and dissuades people from putting their name forward.”
A group of municipal politicians at Queen’s Park on Tuesday said it is looking forward to the government passing Bill 9.
The mayors and councillors have launched a campaign called Elect Respect, which is designed to have candidates in the next municipal vote take a pledge to “restore civility and respect to the public square.”
“Politics has been described as a blood sport,” said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward at the news conference. “We’re here to say enough. No, it isn’t. Politics is public service.”
Halton Hills Mayor Ann Lawlor said she wants to see a provincewide code of conduct that clearly promotes the basics of civil discourse.
“I’m looking forward to Bill 9 moving forward in the Ontario Legislature, so we can have a clear, consistent standard of behavior that municipal councilors are expected to meet,” she said.
