MISSISSAUGAWATCH Presents its First Annual "'THESE AWARDS ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING' Awards" (Mississauga Musings)

BRAMPTON, CALEDON, MISSISSAUGA, PEEL COUNCILS --put a fork in us, we're done.

It's confirmed, Oh People of Peel.

It's official. Brampton, Caledon, Mississauga and Peel Regional Council have all voted unanimously to deny their citizens access to the Ontario Ombudsman for the free and impartial investigation of (in-camera) closed meetings.

And not even a whimper. (It's like leaving a tooth under your pillow as a kid and not only is there no quarter the next morning, there's no tooth, never was a tooth, no evidence of there ever having been a tooth, no complaints process to even complain that your tooth is missing AND decades-long-Nothing of there ever having been any other kids complaining about no quarters and no teeth.) Welcome to the new definition of "transparency" and "accountability".

Caledon and Mississauga both chose Local Authority Services --an Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO)-controlled corporation, for the "investigative" process. This comes as no surprise since Mayor Morrison of Caledon and Mayor McCallion of Mississauga are both on the AMO Board of Directors.

The Association of Ontario Municipalities --and its Board of Directors-- would've been a powerful lobby in getting their member-municipalities to block citizen access to the Ontario Ombudsman. It bugged me that the Caledon and Mississauga mayors sat in on the Bill 130 investigator issue items --I saw it as a kind of strong AMO-Presence inside Caledon and Mississauga Councils, but hey, what the heck moving forward...

Mississauga (Trust, Quality, Excellence) Council voted unanimously to block citizens free access to the Ontario Ombudsman without a word of discussion --a 16 second pro forma'd Pro Forma.

MAN THAT WAS ONE MISSISSAUGA PRO FORMA!

(Pro forma here to go directly to YouTube)

I mean how do you respond to that?! Hey. I know!...

MISSISSAUGAWATCH Presents its First Annual ---

"'THESE AWARDS ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING' Awards"

MISSISSAUGAWATCH's "'These Awards Actually Mean Something' Awards" were developed (like right now, at this very minute) in response to cities dropping down $6,500 plus travel expenses to the World Leadership Whatever-they're-called "Prestigious" Awards. Awards so "prestigious" that some categories seem to have had only two cities bothering to enter.

To receive a MississaugaWatch "'These Awards Actually Mean Something' Award'... well, you'll see.

Today we present the first MississaugaWatch "'These Awards Actually Mean Something' Award' for Upholding the Public Trust to the Council of Fort Erie (Ontario).

MississaugaWatch has zero doubt that democracy is alive and well --and boisterous and even a tad messy in Fort Erie. MississaugaWatch officially recognizes through its "'These Awards Actually Mean Something' Award' that Fort Erie Council is not an evil empire. Yep. And all you need to do is look at their exemplary citizen-respectful video surveillance policy. (KUDOS!)

The following two videos are from the December 10, 2007 Fort Erie Council meeting.

The first (Google) Video shows two deputations. The first deputant, Tom Lewis, urges Fort Erie council to "go with the Ontario Ombudsman". The second, John Papadakis speaks up for the rights of citizens to videotape municipal council meetings. Mr. Papadakis also addresses the role of YouTube and Facebook/MySpace in the citizen-political landscape.

If there were ever reason why regular people should be allowed to tape council meetings this is it. Citizens of Ontario now have a true record of why the citizens of Fort Erie can be proud of their municipal leaders. And of course, why Fort Erie Council is truly deserving of the first MississaugaWatch "'These Awards Actually Mean Something' Award' for Upholding the Public Trust

TO FORT ERIE COUNCIL. FROM MISSISSAUGAWATCH WITH AFFECTION.

(Click here to go directly to Google Video)

And check this one out. This may be the only video historical record of an Ontario municipality to allow their citizens access to the Ontario Ombudsman.

FORT ERIE CHOOSES THE ONTARIO OMBUDSMAN

(Click here to go directly to YouTube)

Signed,
The (Of course now I have to design the "'These Awards Actually Mean Something' Awards"....) Mississauga Muse
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TOWERpelcoTEXT
"In contrast to the local law enforcement agencies, Corporate Security provides a distinct difference in approach to providing a safe and secure environment within the community." --City of Mississauga Corporate Security 2003 Strategic Draft Plan

"We must employ every possible tactic to dissuade those who try to silence us with fear" ---The Mississauga News Editorial (2007-03-24)

FOR READERS' COMMENTS --SCROLL TO VERY BOTTOM OF THIS ENTRY.

"MISSISSAUGA --HOWZIT'S GOING" CARTOON ARCHIVE

Links to all previous cartoons in the Mississauga Howzit's Going series.

FELLOW-CITIZEN BLOGGERS

Voices of Ajax (Citizen-Blogger, Karem Allen)
TORONTOIAM (compilation of GTA Blogs)
Woodstock Ontario Independent News (Jim Bender)

FURTHER READING

Links to all "Antonio Batista Pothole Poet Trial" Blog entries have been moved to our alternate MISSISSAUGA WATCH Blogspace. Please click here.

MEDIA Bloggers:
Click here for John Stewart's Blog, RANDOM ACCESS
and Craig MxBride's X MARKS THE SPOT

Posted Toronto (National Post)
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Comments (1)

Anonymous:

I think Brockville needs a Brockville-Muse!! What's going on there?

City won't use ombudsman

By MICHAEL JIGGINS

Staff Writer

A Brockville councillor accused the provincial ombudsman of having a "hidden agenda" and said his comments regarding municipalities make him unfit to probe citizen complaints about closed-door meetings.

"I don't think it's in our best interest to have someone with neither municipal knowledge, background or experience and who has a hidden agenda to be acting as a judge of us and our staff," said Councillor Henry Noble.

His remarks came as city council moved Tuesday to undo an earlier decision that left the office of Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin to investigate closed-meeting complaints.

Instead, council voted last night to retain former provincial official Brian Donaldson as its investigator, as required by new Municipal Act regulations that take effect Jan. 1, 2008.

In launching his attack on Marin, Noble cited an Oct. 31 article by The Canadian Press in which the ombudsman was paraphrased as saying "citizens should be furious that so much information is being hidden from their eyes" by municipal councils.

The same article, Noble told council, goes on to indicate Marin believes "people should be outraged that municipalities are making important decisions behind closed doors with no accountability."

Noble said any judge who made such prejudicial remarks about an accused prior to hearing a case would recuse himself.

"You're dealing with a man who already believes you're guilty before he comes," he insisted.

Councillor Jason Baker, who voted against the recommendation, stressed Noble's argument ignored the fact that "if the ombudsman can be accused of having an agenda, so could a contracted employee."

Council had debated the merits of leaving any closed-meeting probes to the ombudsman in October when a proposal to retain an investigator through a subsidiary company of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) was defeated.

Among the reasons for that narrow vote was the $300 annual retainer fee and the $1,250 per day, plus expenses, cost of any investigation by the AMO group.

There is no fee for the ombudsman, whose office is the default investigator if a muncipality fails to retain its own.

City staff later contacted three people offering the service, with Donaldson's the lone reply.

He will cost the city less than the AMO subsidiary: $100 annually, with investigative fees of $50 an hour to a maximum of $350 per day.

Donaldson's municipal experience includes three decades as senior policy adviser to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

Responding to a question from Councillor Gord Beach, city manager Bob Casselman said he endorsed Donaldson's appointment because that background will allow him to conduct a probe with fewer costly disruptions to staff.

"He can cut through the bureaucracy and can cut through what would be a frivolous concern versus what would be a real concern," explained Casselman.

Posted by Anonymous | December 19, 2007 5:02 PM

Posted on December 19, 2007 17:02

Mississauga Musings

Ursula Bennett

MISSISSAUGAWATCH Presents its First Annual "'THESE AWARDS ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING' Awards"

FOR READERS' COMMENTS --SCROLL TO VERY BOTTOM OF THIS ENTRY.

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