‘An affront to our democracy’: Aurora councillors and residents in favour of men’s shelter shocked over use of strong mayor powers

The debate over a housing project to help vulnerable men in York Region is dividing councillors and the community.

A group of town councillors and residents are speaking out after Aurora’s mayor used his strong mayor powers to stop York Region from considering a property for a facility to shelter vulnerable men.

The controversial site is owned by the region and located at 14452 Yonge Street near Industrial Parkway South, just south of Aurora’s downtown. The project proposed building a men’s emergency and traditional housing facility with 68 beds.

Advocates in favour of the site believe the location makes sense because it’s central to York Region, the project is shovel ready, and the region’s homeless population is growing.

“Using strong mayor powers which 50 municipalities got with the idea of speeding up the development of affordable housing, that just flies in the face of this. This has actually stopped deeply affordable housing,” said the Michael Braithwaite, CEO of Blue Door, York Region’s largest emergency housing provider.

After changing his mind about the site, Coun. John Gallo put forward a motion for the town to revisit the property at a Feb. 25 town council meeting, so it could be considered as part of wider effort by the region in selecting housing locations for those experiencing homelessness. His motion passed four votes to three.

However, the next day councillors in favour of the site learned that Mayor Tom Mrakas - who had voted against the motion - vetoed the decision, writing any alternative use of the property “could compromise its strategic purpose and may interfere with the delivery of infrastructure to support housing.”

Mrakas added the site is critical for current and future needs including essential municipal services.

Mrakas declined speaking in an interview with CTV News Toronto. His office said he believes the veto speaks for itself.

“[The veto] was shocking in that it’s an affront to our democracy where in that these types of decisions shouldn’t be done unilaterally,” Gallo told CTV News Monday. “What’s at stake is that men are going to be sleeping on the street one, two years longer than they should.”

The Ford government brought in the strong mayor powers in 2022 and expanded them to dozens more municipalities in 2023 to “help heads of council cut red tape and speed up the delivery of key shared municipal-provincial priorities such as housing, transit and infrastructure in their municipalities.”

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Despite the Aurora mayor using these special powers, the fight for the project to still be considered on the property is not over.

“There are a number of options that are still available. We can have a special meeting of council and we are planning on doing that because we think the public needs to know all the reasons why the veto was offered,” said Coun. Ron Weese, who voted in favour of Gallo’s motion.

Like Aurora’s town council, residents are also divided about the site.

“We’ve had enough. It’s gone through a democratic process and failed,” Mike Zelyony told council at the Feb. 25 meeting.

“A veto to stop a discussion is extraordinarily wrong,” said Adam Mobbs, who started the group Aurora Cares, Housing for All last year, which now has around 450 members supporting the use of the property.

“I think the mayor probably underestimated the spirit of this community. We are a very caring community, we’re inclusive.”

A statement from Lisa Gonsalves, Commissioner of Community and Health Services with York Region, confirmed a comprehensive region-wide site selection process is underway, adding that regional staff are evaluating sites that address the acknowledged critical need for emergency and transitional housing and once potential sites are identified, the region will work with local municipal partners to align development of these proposed facilities with local planning policies and community input.

She said results of this work will be reported to regional council in the second quarter of 2025.