This article was first published by Oakville News, a Village Media publication.
Oakville has been told that it needs to repay the federal government about $1.28 million in housing funds, after the town failed to make good on a secret deal signed by Mayor Rob Burton in February.
The mayor says the government will get its money back, and he’s "not fussed about it."
The deal, which could have eventually provided the town with about $25 million in cash to build more housing, required the town to change its zoning to allow more density.
The signed agreement only came to light after town council voted 14-1 to reject those zoning changes at its May 6 meeting.
Read more here: Town council rejects federal government’s density demands
The mayor, who sided with the majority in voting against the changes, skirted discussion of the deal during the meeting by claiming that he had signed a non-disclosure agreement.
That led Ward 1 councillor Sean O’Meara to file a complaint with the town’s integrity commissioner to do a "deeper dive" into why Burton was not open or transparent with councillors about what was going on.
The integrity commissioner has reported back to council, but O’Meara says he isn’t allowed to say whether she will proceed with the complaint.
While he can’t talk about the results, he does say he thinks the town’s code of conduct needs a re-write.
"There’s nothing in our code of conduct that says members of council need to be honest with each other – there’s no honesty clause in there," said O’Meara.
"You don’t really need a code of conduct as long as things go well, but when they start to go off the rails, you realize hey, this thing’s not going to suffice."
When contacted directly, the town's integrity commissioner Suzanne Craig said she couldn’t confirm or deny a complaint related to Burton. She added that she “is required to preserve confidentiality with respect to all matters” related to her role as integrity commissioner and simply pointed to the town’s policy on complaints.
Phew. Let’s break down the details:
Federal cash for housing
In summer 2023, the town applied for cash from the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), a $4 billion federal program aiming to speed up the building of new homes across the country.
But to get the money, councillors were told they needed to change Oakville’s planning rules.
Federal housing minister Sean Fraser demanded Oakville permit four housing units on every residential property in the town, as well as four-storey apartment buildings on properties within 800 metres of Sheridan College.
In January, on a 11-4 vote, Oakville council took the first step to approving those changes. Town staff was directed to create the necessary zoning amendments, for council’s final approval.
The town also launched a consultation process.
Residents from the Sheridan College area were stunned – and then angered – to discover that the new rules would allow four-storey apartments to be built on all residential properties in their neighbourhood.
In the face of the public outcry, and despite the call from a number of young people to increase Oakville’s supply and type of housing to improve affordability, councillors councillors rejected the zoning changes.
But more than two months before that decision was finally made, Burton signed an agreement with the federal government committing to the required changes.
The town even received its initial HAF payment of $1.28 million.
During the May 6 meeting, O’Meara asked Burton if an agreement between the town and the federal government existed. Burton said he couldn’t talk about it because he had signed a non-disclosure agreement.
The following week, the housing minister sent a letter to Burton noting that he was "disappointed" with council’s refusal to make the zoning amendments.
"I was surprised to learn that during the meeting, you told Council that a non-disclosure agreement with the federal government prevented you from sharing details about Oakville’s HAF agreement," wrote Fraser.
"To be clear, no such agreement exists, and it is deeply concerning that the agreement was concealed from Council, as they were seemingly unaware that the vote had implications on the $25 million destined for Oakville."
The fact that Oakville would lose out on HAF funding if it didn’t make these changes was discussed by councillors, the mayor, and even delegates during the meeting, so it’s not likely anyone was unaware of the implications.
But O’Meara – who was the only councillor to vote in favour of the amendments – is troubled by the mayor’s lack of transparency.
"You’re committing the town of Oakville to major policy changes and there’s tens of millions of dollars at stake here," he noted. "Never in my time would I have expected that council not be constantly brought up to speed."
For his part, the mayor scheduled an interview with Oakville News, then didn’t call at the planned time.
In response to subsequent email questions, he wrote, "I don't think I should comment on the matter before the integrity process, so let's leave those questions aside."
He added that he explained his "change of mind at the (May 6) meeting."
"I clearly acknowledged that the federal government would get its money back. I'm not fussed about it and I'm not trying to have a fight with the Minister or the government."
