Toronto Life: Del Duca's dual role as Vaughan mayor and York Region chair draws fire from Markham's Scarpitti

Under a May amendment, the province now appoints the York Region chair instead of voters electing one, and appointed chairs can propose city budgets, fire city staff and make municipal laws with the support of only one-third of council. Del Duca, the former leader of the Ontario Liberals, was among eight regional chairs named this week by the Ford government.

Del Duca keeps his full-time job as Vaughan mayor while serving as York chair and head of regional council for four years. His pay is capped at the higher of his two salaries, and Vaughan will appoint a replacement to sit on regional council. The role oversees a $5.2-billion regional budget.

Markham mayor Frank Scarpitti calls the appointment "a blatant conflict of interest." He went further, implying it reflects patronage rather than merit. "When the premier said the president of the United States could kiss a certain part of his anatomy, he forgot to say that he'd have to push Steven Del Duca out of the way," Scarpitti told reporters. He also argued the role concentrates too much authority in one government-appointed official at the expense of elected mayors.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs says the role is "equipped with powers to streamline decision-making, improve efficiency, strengthen alignment with provincial priorities, including housing and infrastructure, and introduce upper-tier budgets."

NDP municipal affairs critic Jeff Burch said the arrangement weakens accountability. "At the city level, they can ignore two-thirds of their council; at the regional level, they can ignore two-thirds of the mayors," Burch told Global. "they're going to do the bidding of Doug Ford, who is pulling all the strings."