In April, we shared a blog post about Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac gaining Strong Mayor Powers (SMPs), and his subsequent firing and hiring of Orillia’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), during an historic ice storm and State of Emergency. Click here to read. A number of events have unfolded since, and this is part two.
Provincial Power Grab
On April 9th, the province extended Strong Mayor Powers to another 169 municipalities, effective May 1st. This means that 14 of 16 municipalities in Simcoe County now have SMPs. It is clear that the PC party thinks it easier to control 169 heads of council than a majority of independently elected councillors.
But the province claims the expansion of these powers is to “help municipalities deliver on priorities like building homes” – where has any talk of this been from these Strong Mayors, almost two months later?
Special Meeting of Council
In April, in a rare move, a special meeting of Orillia’s city council was called to discuss Mayor McIsaac’s SMPs through a petition from six of the eight ward councillors.
Councillors Durnford, Fallis, Lauer, Czetwerzuk, Leatherdale and Campbell signed the petition. Councillors Cipolla and Smith did not sign the petition (though Cipolla told OrilliaMatters he would have signed the petition).
Coun. Durnford said the point of the meeting was to “determine what our response is to Mayor McIsaac’s actions using the strong mayor powers. It will be to discuss what our strategy will be and to pass a motion,” she said.
On Tuesday, April, 15, that meeting happened – well, sort of. Approximately 100 people jammed into the council chamber for the special meeting. The meeting was supposed to be attended by “external legal counsel” to help council wade through the implications of recent decisions, but no legal counsel was able to attend the meeting. As a result, the meeting became a procedural and technical mess and Mayor and Council decided to postpone it until a lawyer could be present.
For unsatisfactory reasons, the city staff were unable to livestream this important public meeting. Luckily, we were able to record most of it which we have uploaded to the Green Orillia YouTube channel:
An Amicable Settlement Deal?
On May 20, an article came out that the City and Trevor Lee (the CAO that McIsaac fired) reached an ‘amicable’ and ‘confidential’ settlement deal.
As no details are being released publicly, Orillia taxpayers may never know the cost of Mayor McIsaac’s decision to use strong mayor powers to rescind hiring of CAO (although some determined sleuths may deduce a range from upcoming budgets – the money must come from somewhere).
Oh the Irony!
In a separate local drama, Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital has moved to eliminate two long-standing ex-officio positions on its board of directors — one held by the City of Orillia and the other by Royal Canadian Legion Branch 34.
Mayor Don McIsaac — who currently serves on the board as the city’s voting representative – was quoted in the paper about the move. He is now raising concerns about transparency and eroding public trust. How ironic! Dear Mayor: why is authoritarianism good for Orillia but not for our hospital?
“Maybe the hospital was using their Strong Hospital Board Powers,” some quipped in comment sections.
Rescheduled Special Meeting of Council is THIS Thursday!
The City of Orillia invites residents to participate in the special council meeting this Thursday, June 26th at 6:30 pm in the council chamber of the Orillia City Centre, 50 Andrew St. S.
The session will focus on recent legislative changes that grant strong mayor powers and their application and implementation within Orillia. The meeting will feature a presentation by a lawyer.
A dedicated public engagement section will follow the presentation, providing community members the opportunity to share input on strong mayor powers and their implementation in Orillia. In-person speakers will be invited to form a line at the council chamber podium. Individuals attending virtually who wish to address council must register no later than 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 26.
Have you signed the Strong Voter Pledge?
In the wake of this debacle, we started a STRONG VOTER PLEDGE!
We, the undersigned residents of Orillia, affirm our commitment not to support or vote for any mayoral candidate or council candidates in the 2026 Municipal Election unless they publicly pledge to reject and never use SMPs.
To put this in perspective:
In the 2022 municipal election, 8,486 people voted for mayor.
Of those, 4,861 votes (57.28%) went to Don McIsaac.
If we can gather just 500 signatures, we would be on track to erode over 10 per cent of his previous support—and send a strong message to every future candidate that SMPs are a political liability in Orillia.
Every signature matters. Every pledge chips away at the mandate of unchecked power.
The Need for Fresh Leadership
In a historic grassroots win, New York City just elected Zohran Mamdani as their Democratic nominee for Mayor, a 33-year old democratic socialist who ran an inspiring campaign on a platform of rent freezes, affordable homes, no-cost childcare, fast and free buses, and city-owned supermarkets. This is the kind of energy we need in local politics right here in Canada.
Ontario’s next Municipal Elections are on October 26th, 2026, with candidate filings opening in May. Whether you’re thinking about running for mayor, councillor, or school board trustee—or simply want to support someone who is—now’s the time to start planning, organizing, and connecting with friends and local groups to get involved.