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we want to ensure legislation continues to support Ontario ’ s local governments in being open and accountable to the people they serve .”
While supportive in principle , Abrams is also concerned about potential increased costs to Ontario ’ s municipalities incurred by the proposed legislation , which also includes amendments to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and to the City of Toronto Act , 2006 .
Abrams ’ fears are exacerbated by what he sees as the lack of clearly defined standards for the integrity commissioners ’ enhanced role and safeguards to ensure procedural fairness .
“ Indeed , the establishment of standards may allow greater latitude for
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integrity commissioners to impose sanctions rather than just recommend sanctions ,” said Abrams . “ This is particularly important for their new municipal conflict-of-interest powers — because the proposal to allow integrity commissioners the power to apply to a judge for the imposition of sanctions may be tremendously costly for municipalities .
“ So by setting the bar for how integrity commissioners carry out their duties and how the courts should deal with their findings , the public could be better served through more agile reporting , timely sanctions that are more meaningful in the circumstances , and lower costs .”
AMCTO was disappointed to see that the legislation failed to
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introduce any new revenue tools to assist municipalities .
The Municipal Finance Officers ’ Association of Ontario ( MFOA ) also expressed frustration at the legislation ’ s failure to introduce new revenue streams for municipalities , which could potentially lead to fiscal challenges .
“ MFOA is disappointed that the Municipal Act , 2001 was not amended to include a broad power to impose taxes beyond the property tax as is found in section 267 of the City of Toronto Act , 2006 and a hotel / accommodation tax ,” the MFOA said in a statement .
“ MFOA continues to believe that the Province should issue regulations under subsection 40 ( 3 ) of the Municipal Act ,
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