Strong Mayor Powers

The Mayor has special powers and duties under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001. These include powers to:
Bring matters to Council that advance certain Provincial priorities and veto any by-laws passed by Council that may interfere with the advancement of those priorities
Appoint the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)*
Hire and dismiss certain municipal senior managers and determine the organizational structure of the Township of Whitewater Region*
Create committees of Council, assign their functions, and appoint the Chairs and Vice Chairs of committees of Council
Propose the Municipality’s budget subject to Council amendments, a mayoral veto, and a Council override process
The Mayor is required to exercise these powers in writing and make them available to the public, subject to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

*The Mayor may choose to delegate these specific powers and duties.

Statement from Mayor Neil Nicholson Strong Mayor Powers

Our council works as a cohesive unit, firmly focused on the goals of advancing and encouraging growth and making our community a wonderful place in which to live and invest. Each of member of council brings their own set of skills, knowledge, values and perspectives to achieve these goals, and has worked extremely well together.

Since it was sworn in, our Council has been colletively focused on advancing provincial priorities by delivering much needed housing, building infrastructure that supports community growth and the
construction of new homes, including housing-enabling infrastructure such as water and wastewater. The Township of 

Whitewater Region has grown significantly over the last decade (the fourth fastest growing municipality in the County of Renfrew) and, as a rural municipality, we have added a large amount of new housing to meet market demands.  Whitewater Region has invested in our planning department with delegated planning authorities from the County of Renfrew.  With a qualified planner, we can very quickly process most planning matters with the exception of plans of subdivisions.  With our expanded building inspector staff, we have been able to reduce permit processing times.  We do all of this while keeping permits and planning application fees suppressed, augmenting our planning department with general taxation revenues to support growth in our community and contribute to meeting Provincial priorities. 

Mayor Directives

Mayor Decisions

Mayorial Veto Process

Mayorial Budget Process

Mayorial Directive/Decision Procedure