The Mayor and Council in Ontario have different powers and roles. First, the Mayor leads the Council to make strategic and financial plans. The Mayor also calls special meetings for the Council, expels individuals for lack of proper conduct during a meeting, and signing all by-laws (Introduction to Toronto’s Government, 2018). The Mayor acts as a commissioner for taking affidavits and serves as the representative of the city too. On its part, the Council is directly responsible for overseeing the services of the city. The Council develops and evaluates policies and programs of the city and maintaining its financial integrity. Further, at the municipal level, primary decision-making authority for local matters rests at the Council because it determines which services the city will provide (Introduction to Toronto’s Government, 2018). It also ensures that operations in the city are carried out without compromising accountability and transparency. The public and interests of the city are represented and considered by the Council too.
Question 6
In terms of planning, an official plan guides growth for the next 30 years. Secondly, it is used for developing strategies that will enhance growth as well as setting policies for change management. It also contains land use designations too (Makuch, 2020). Therefore, an official plan provides the municipal with a guideline and, strategy for public and private building activities in the city. It also helps the municipals to develop policies and plans for building the city while looking at human, economic, and natural environments. Notably, secondary plans are important tools for municipality too (Makuch, 2020). These are plans that help in the establishment of local development policies that will not only promote growth, but also changes in a specific area of the city. They also guide in creating new neighborhood and employment districts to ensure that public infrastructure is adequate and environmental protection is maintained. They are part of the official plan and, they can be used when the city councilors want detailed local planning studies (Makuch, 2020). Besides, secondary plans can be used if the official plan has given guidance as to where they should be utilized or planners have recommended the same.
Question 7
Zoning by-laws play a critical purpose in terms of land use. This is a law that sets out how the land can be used, where buildings and structures should be located, and what types of structures are permitted. A zoning by-law also helps in determining the density, height, and setbacks for buildings (Makuch, 2020). It meets the purposes of determining the sizes of the lots, dimensions and parking requirements. More so, it helps to restrict development in areas that are contaminated, vulnerable as well as sensitive to archeological or environmental importance. Therefore, this is to say that these are by-laws that help in managing conflicts related to land use and managing future development (Makuch, 2020). However, zoning by-laws can create tensions. There are criticisms that these by-laws are discriminatory especially, due to separation distance. For instance, a separation distance applies that homes, residential facilities and other forms of housing for people with disabilities must be a specific distance from housing a similar function (Lilith, 2012). In this case, there is an aspect of discrimination considering that homes for non-disabled people are not subjected to a separation distance. Secondly, the separation distance also makes it difficult for house providers to locate appropriate development sites that are close to public amenities and social service.