‘Setting us up for failure:’ Cambridge councillors frustrated with changes at budget meeting

There were tense moments during a budget meeting at Cambridge City Hall after new rules were implemented. CTV’s Heather Senoran reports.

Cambridge city councillors did not mince words at Monday night’s budget amendment meeting after city staff implemented new rules.

The city is navigating what it means to create budgets using Strong Mayor Powers. Under those powers, the head of council, in this case, the mayor, is required to propose a budget for the municipality each year by Feb. 1. The proposed budget is then shared with all members of council, the municipal clerk and the public. Council can then amend the proposed budget by passing a resolution within 30 days, and the mayor has 10 days from the end of the council review period to veto any amendment. Council can override that veto if two-thirds of all members vote to do so.

On Friday, Cambridge councillors were told their amendments didn’t qualify for Monday’s meeting because the amendments didn’t meet new criteria.

“In order for an amendment to meet the criteria, councillors had to consult with staff prior to [the meeting],” Councillor Corey Kimpson told CTV News on Tuesday afternoon. “That criteria was not part of the presentation to council on Oct. 14th, nor was it mentioned in any emails from the acting clerk or from the general manager who oversees the clerk’s department.”

Kimpson was one of the four councillors who had proposed amendments.

“It has been a really challenging few days for us all, trying to work through this and navigate this,” Councillor Sheri Roberts said.

Minutes before the meeting began, councillors were told they could present their amendments after all, but they would not be allowed to ask city staff questions during the meeting.

“In this particular situation, it was setting us up for failure,” Kimpson said.

Councillors said many of them were unsure of the new criteria and rules.

“It was confusing, but I’m glad we sorted it. It was a bit painful last night,” Councillor Helen Shwery said.

Even councillors who didn’t have amendments to put forth raised concerns with the process during and after the meeting.

“If you want to upset a councillor, get in the way of us representing our residents,” Councillor Adam Cooper told CTV News.

Strong Mayor powers were also in effect during the 2025 budget process.

“There were no problems last year, but it seemed this year there were some rules that were just implemented on the fly that made us say, ‘What’s going on here?” Cooper said.

Some councillors said having amendments reviewed by staff first didn’t feel right.

“For me, I do believe in encroaches on democracy,” Shwery said.

Strong Mayor Powers were first introduced in Ontario in 2022. In 2023, those powers were extended to more areas, including Cambridge.

Rob Axiak, Cambridge’s city manager, said they’re still trying to figure out what works best while following the tight 30-day deadline from when the budget is presented to when it has to be approved.

Axiak said the new rules were implemented by city staff in hopes of making the budget process go more smoothly given the tight timeline.

“This isn’t just the mayor’s budget and then nothing else happens. All members of council have full authority, full responsibility to make changes to the actual budget,” he said.

Halfway into Monday’s meeting, after significant pushback from councillors, city staff shifted gears and went back to allowing questions.

“We gave some criteria on saying, ‘This is what we think an amendment is.’ Some of it sat well with council. Some of it did not,” admitted Axiak.

City staff said they are not closing the door to any conversations, and they hope councillors continue to provide feedback to improve the budget process next year.

“We’re not looking to throw anybody under the bus. We have great staff. We work with them a lot. They are fantastic. This is a little bit of a hiccup and I’m hoping that everyone will learn from this,” Cooper said.

The next budget amendment meeting is Nov. 24. Councillors will be asked to vote as there was no voting allowed at the last meeting.

CTV News asked the city to speak with Mayor Jan Liggett but an interview was not provided.