GuelphToday received the following Open Letter from the Guelph and District Labour Council in regards to Mayor Guthrie using his "Strong Mayor" powers:
On Thursday, Mayor Cam Guthrie announced that he was going to use his Strong Mayor powers bestowed to him by Doug Ford. But just because a politician has been gifted with authoritarian powers doesn’t mean he should use them. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
When Ford revealed these Strong Mayor powers last summer, he did so under the guise of expediting affordable housing. This was also the rationale Ford gave for bulldozing through the Greenbelt. Guthrie used the same excuse (as well as invoking the tax-hike boogeyman) in front of a business-friendly crowd last week, suggesting that he (like the premier) is far more interested in putting profit over people.
The Guelph and District Labour Council represents 14 local union affiliates and over 4,500 members. As the voice of workers in this city, we know that the consequences of this announcement will mean deep cuts to Guelph’s public services at a time when it’s clear more funding is needed. The mayor needs to be transparent with Guelphites about who will suffer as a result of these cuts.
Guthrie’s announcement came as a shock to his council colleagues, many of whom expressed outrage hearing this for the first time. We agree with them. Voters, too, should be outraged at this breach of democracy. When Guelph voters went to the polls in the fall of 2022, they not only elected a mayor, but 12 councillors as well. Guthrie does not have a monopoly on representing Guelphities.
Unlike federal and provincial politics, a lasting positive legacy of municipal governments has been the necessity of all elected representatives to work together to better their communities. Guthrie’s inability to build consensus and instead resort to dictatorial powers shows poor leadership. Only a weak leader refuses to listen to those around him, and only a weak mayor needs to resort to “Strong Mayor” powers because he can’t get his own way.
We call on Mayor Guthrie to reverse his decision to invoke the undemocratic Strong Mayor powers and head back to council chambers to build a better plan that will work for Guelphites. Failing that, we are prepared to mobilize workers in Guelph against this threat to local democracy.
Sincerely,
Nicole Clark Guelph and District Labour Council President
