The Ontario Human Rights Commission has weighed in on Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas’ veto of a motion regarding the men’s transitional housing and shelter on Yonge Street.
Chief commissioner Patricia DeGuire wrote a letter to Mrakas in which she referenced “a four-year delay in finding a suitable location while excluding viable options” may be discriminatory under the Ontario Human Rights Code
DeGuire also called on the the town to “consider all viable options” for building a shelter, including 14452 Yonge St., and to “expeditiously fulfill its obligation to provide transitional housing.”
“A four-year delay in finding a suitable location while excluding viable options may result in a failure to meet the needs of vulnerable individuals protected under the Code and may be discriminatory,” DeGuire’s letter stated.
DeGuire added that a “municipality’s lack of sufficient low-barrier and accessible housing options” for homeless people can “limit its ability to prevent unhoused persons from sheltering in encampments on municipal property,” noting that “certain groups under the code are disproportionately represented” in the homeless population.
She added that the commission encourages the town to “use a human rights-based approach to take advantage of funding available” from the province and the federal government.
In response, Mrakas confirmed he had received the letter and said the town “would welcome the opportunity for a meaningful conversation with the commission.”
“The letter was sent with no direct engagement with myself or the town to discuss the issue or gain a deeper understanding of our approach,” Mrakas wrote in a statement. “As I said in my last response to the OHRC, we believe that open dialogue is essential to addressing concerns effectively, and we would welcome the opportunity for a meaningful conversation with the commission.”
The commission previously wrote a letter to Mrakas on Feb. 22, 2023, raising concerns “that delaying or denying the approval of this project” may also be discriminatory.
The letter comes ahead of a special council meeting Tuesday, March 18, when a group of Aurora councillors is making a bid to overturn the mayor's use of strong mayor powers to veto the motion regarding the proposed housing and shelter.
Mrakas used his strong powers to cancel the motion passed at council meeting on Feb. 25, after Councillor John Gallo’s motion calling on York Region to consider resubmitting its proposal for 14452 Yonge St. was passed.
Gallo called the veto “an abuse of strong mayor’s powers,” adding that he thought it “undermined the democratic process.”
Was the mayor’s veto ‘an abuse of strong mayor’s powers?’
In his veto, Mrakas wrote that building the shelter on the regionally owned property “could compromise its strategic purpose and may interfere with the delivery of infrastructure to support housing.”
“This site is critical for current and future infrastructure needs, including essential municipal services that may be expanded to support housing growth and that may be necessary for future development in southwest Aurora and the Yonge Street corridor, both key growth areas in the town’s updated official plan and both which would assist the town in meeting its provincial housing targets,” he added.
According to the province, the mayor can use his strong mayor powers if it relates to provincial priorities, which include building 1.5 million new homes by Dec. 31, 2031 or constructing and maintaining infrastructure to support housing, such as transit, roads, utilities and servicing.
York Region did an environmental assessment in July 2019 to help identify options to address capacity constraints at the existing Aurora Sewage Pumping Station on St. John’s Sideroad, out of which came a plan to build the Henderson Pumping Station at 14452 Yonge St., according to Patrick Casey, a spokesperson for York Region.
“The new sewage pumping station alleviates capacity constraints at the existing Aurora Sewage Pumping Station and allows for an additional servicing capacity of 4,500 persons, supporting current and future servicing needs for growth in the Town of Aurora,” added Casey in a statement.
York Region did not comment if there were plans for further pumping station construction or expansion on the 14452 Yonge site, and if so, if it would be impacted by the transitional housing and shelter it had proposed to build on the property.
Construction on the Henderson Pumping Station was successfully completed in January 2024. Last year, work was also done on restoring the Tamarac Green park north entrance at the site.
AuroraToday reached out to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the premier’s office for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Past use of strong mayor powers
Mrakas used his strong mayor veto powers twice in 2024.
The first time was in January, with Mrakas using his veto powers to dissolve the town’s general committee and replace it with a committee of the whole meeting structure “with agenda items divided into the following operational committees,” according to the mayor’s veto. The head of council can create new committees of council under the Municipal Act, 2001 and City of Toronto Act, 2006.
The second time was overturning a pay increase for councillors in April 2024.
“As the head of council, it is my opinion that, as a 42.6 per cent increase in total compensation for council members was not included in the adopted 2024 budget, the unbudgeted utilization of taxpayer funds for this purpose could potentially interfere with provincial and town priorities, including anticipated initiatives that may be brought forward in 2024 for affordable housing and infrastructure,” the mayor wrote in his veto.
The head of council has to submit a budget by Feb. 1, and then strong mayor powers can be used to veto council amendments of that budget, or changes to proposed in-year budget amendments, according to the province.
The special council meeting is set to be held at Aurora Town Hall, at 100 John West Way, at 6 p.m. on March 18.