Toronto Mayor Rob Ford addresses the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto on June 5, 2012.Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is recovering in hospital from a throat and stomach irritation that aggravated his asthma and forced him to take a step back from his daily political duties on Tuesday. His staff said Mr. Ford will make a full recovery and he was resting comfortably in hospital Wednesday afternoon. The episode raises the question of what an Ontario city would do in the event that its mayor was incapacitated. The Globe and Mail's Elizabeth Church put the question to Myer Siemiatycki, a municipal politics expert at Ryerson University.
What are the duties of a mayor?
The municipal act contains the vaguest of specified job descriptions for the role of mayor. It amounts to a single line that boils down to: Be vigilant of the city's interests and lead it to the best of your abilities.
It leaves a lot of latitude for mayors to pick their spots and play the role in different ways.
There are no clearly identified, specific powers that attend to the mayor's office. The mayor is first among equals and does have some levers that he can push and pull, such as deciding who will head committees.
A mayor could go missing in action and not be noticed. That is possible because the legislative-making function of council is collectively shared by the council. It is not the mayor who makes decisions unilaterally. The business of city hall and local government would proceed in the hands of the duly elected other members of council.
What if there's an emergency or disaster? Who is in charge?
The council collectively. I think it is fair to say you don't want a municipality, especially Canada's largest, to be leaderless for an extended period because it becomes ambiguous who speaks for the city. If you need a strong voice, you want someone who has authority and legitimacy to speak for the city.
Who could speak for the city if the Deputy Mayor was away, too?
There are a number of players who would have a shot at that role, including the highest ranking civil servant, another member of the executive or a long-standing member of council. And depending on the issue, the premier could speak or a prominent citizen could raise their voice and capture the attention of the city.
It would leave kind of open and up for grabs whose voice does speak for Toronto. I don't think one wants that kind of a vacuum to continue for too long.