HOOO CHEEWOWWA Looka Dat!
A Christmas Gift from The Corporation of Mississauga!
Here's the article that Mayor Hazel McCallion asked the City Solicitor to write to the Mississauga News regarding the Hiring of an Investigator. I reproduce it in its entirety.
I've emailed a response to the Mississauga News and understand that it will be printed. So for today's Blog, I will offer Mississauga Council a VIDEO RESPONSE (below) to Ms. Bench's Council now open for view
By: Mary Ellen Bench
December 18, 2007 - In Ontario, all municipal council meetings must be open to the public. There are limited exceptions such as a meeting to discuss how to proceed in a court case, labour negotiations or meetings that are educational or training for councillors, as long as there is no discussion directed at decision making.Provincial changes to the law will soon allow residents to call for an investigation into whether municipal councils or boards are complying with the rules of the Municipal Act, 2001, regarding closing parts of meetings to the public.
These changes to the law, which come into effect on Jan. 1, 2008, were put in place by the provincial government to ensure all local governments act in an open and transparent manner. On Dec. 12, Mississauga Council appointed Local Authority Services Ltd., or LAS as they are more commonly known, to act as its Investigator. LAS is a subsidiary of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), a not-for-profit organization that represents the vast majority of Ontario’s municipalities.
Earlier this year, following the announcement of the changes to the legislation, LAS set up an Investigator Program for its member municipalities. This program will be used by the City of Mississauga, the Region of Peel and others to ensure compliance with the law, and guarantee that any complaint is handled by an independent and qualified review officer. In the case of Mississauga, all review officers will be experienced municipal lawyers.
The investigation request process will be quite simple. An individual will be required to file their written complaint in a sealed envelope with the City Clerk’s office. There is no charge for this. A person who files a complaint must provide their name and address so that they may be contacted by the investigator, if required. The sealed envelope will be forwarded to LAS, which will assign a review officer to the complaint. When an investigation is complete, a public report with the review officer’s recommendations will be brought forward to Mississauga Council and will be made public.
The LAS Investigator Program is expected to offer several benefits to the City and Mississauga residents. Most significantly, it is an arm's length relationship where complaints are forwarded in confidence to be investigated by trained and qualified review officers. The program also allows for consistency in the review standards used for investigations by experienced review officers, and efficiencies that would not otherwise be possible under other available options.
The LAS Investigator Program will launch in Mississauga on Jan. 1.
Mary Ellen Bench is City of Mississauga Solicitor.
HERE YA GO --"SEE IT NOW"....
Mississaugans, compare your City Council's idea of "accountabilty" and "transparency" with those of --Fort Erie.
MISSISSAUGA --FORT ERIE (A Tale of Two Cities)
(Click here to go directly to the clip on Google Video)
MERRY CHRISTMAS, BIG YELLOW!
Signed,
The (Merry Christmas Fort Erie!) Mississauga Muse
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"That in recognition of the fact that all municipal governments are responsible and accountable governments" --City of Mississauga Resolution 0231-2006] approved October 11, 2006
"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
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 (3)
So you are not charged a fee by Missisauga for this?
Ajax will charge $125.00 and refund $100.00 if the investigation was warranted.
Did you notice the picture of the Mayor of Fort Erie is not wearing chains of office?
What are those things for and why do they feel the need to wear them?
The Prime Minister or Premiers wear a suit only.
I wonder - are the chains choking off the blood flow to the brains? :)
Posted by Karem Allen | December 21, 2007 6:41 PM
Posted on December 21, 2007 18:41
Hey there, Karem,
You wrote:
Yeah, well *PTUI* Brampton is charging $250 for the pleasure of complaining to their hand-picked "investigator".
Cripes, I'd even refuse to put in a complaint on a Mississauga closed meeting and it's FREE. I refuse to dignify the farce --I mean seriously.
Get this. Believe it or not Brampton even wanted the power to NIX an investigator they didn't like.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA*chortle*
(Excuse me Karem)
HEY BRAMPTON! WHY NOT JUST CHARGE $100,000.00 (hundred thousand dollars) a pop? It's not like it's possible to make your Bill 130 "accountability" any more ridiculous. You already tapped out at a hundred percent!
Although I have to give you credit, Brampton. At least your shrek of the Ombudsman was TRANSPARENT!
Back to you, Karem:
You wrote:
Yeah, and I also noticed that he wasn't "guarded" by video surveillance cameras and "in-house" guards skulking about either. (Believe it or not at Mississauga Council I have to use a cosmetic mirror just to check on who's sneaking up behind me.)
I felt so free and welcome in Fort Erie. Sorry but didn't in Ajax. (As for Mississauga, I believe I'd have more room to romp inside the Kremlin.)
Can you imagine an actual city in Ontario that has no BIG BROTHER?
Fort Erie town hall is a true public space. Like public-public and not fake-public (meaning Corporate Private Property)?
BTW. I plan on bringing "Fort Erie" to Ajax, Karem. Will have to wait til February though. Not that I think your municipal-wonders will change their minds.
But your Ajax friends and neighbours need to know about The Miracle in Fort Erie.
Get some rest during the holidays.
2008's gonna be a Big Year for municipal watchers.
Posted by The Mississauga Muse | December 21, 2007 7:19 PM
Posted on December 21, 2007 19:19
Brockville councillors taken to task by the Brockville paper. The editorial could easily have been titled: "What's in the water at city hall"!
A step backward on transparency, credibility for city
Brockville Recorder and Times
Fri 21 Dec 2007
Page: A6
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Column: Editorial
At the risk of encouraging the loquacious Henry Noble, we think the councillor was over the top on Tuesday night in his condemnation of Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin.
As reported in Wednesday's Recorder and Times, Noble accused Marin of having a "hidden agenda" and suggested the Ombudsman could not adequately judge complaints about city council holding 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," Noble said.
Council acquiesced to a staff recommendation that the city choose and hire its own investigator to perform the function, which the ombudsman would do at no cost.
As evidence of Marin's lack of fitness for the job, Noble cited a Canadian Press report in which Marin, as part of a panel discussion on government secrecy, said that "people should be outraged that municipalities are making important decisions behind closed doors with no accountability."
Any judge who made similar remarks about an accused prior to a hearing would have to remove himself from the case, Noble said, adding: "You're dealing with a man who already believes you're guilty before he comes."
Noble's argument is so absurd that it's difficult to know where to start.
For one thing, what is the "hidden agenda" to which Noble is referring? Marin is on record as saying he doesn't think governments should make decisions behind closed doors, so his agenda is hardly hidden. And the ombudsman's position is merely a reflection of Ontario law, which also says municipal governments shouldn't make decisions in secret.
So if Noble objects to Marin's position, is he suggesting government should have carte blanche to make decisions in private?
It is unfair to suggest that Marin has prejudged a particular case because of his general belief in open government. By similar standards, any judge who believes men shouldn't beat their wives would be precluded from hearing cases involving domestic violence.
Noble also repeats the specious argument - reinforced, unfortunately, by city manager Bob Casselman - that experience in municipal government is an important prerequisite for an investigator.
Casselman argued that hiring an insider is a better solution because it would end up using fewer staff resources.
"He can cut through the bureaucracy and can cut through what would be a frivolous concern versus what would be a real concern," Casselman told council.
What evidence suggests the ombudsman can't do that, too? What evidence is there that using the ombudsman will use more city resources in investigating a complaint? Is not the tendency of an insider to view every concern as frivolous?
Those are the sort of questions city councillors should be asking, but for the most part aren't. Jason Baker appears to be the lone councillor to grasp the inherent conflict of interest in a system in which the city hand-picks and pays its own investigator, a contractual arrangement that can easily be terminated if the city doesn't like the results of a particular investigation.
As Marin himself put it in an address to Fort Erie town council earlier this month, the process is not complicated: "It is a straightforward proposition with two key questions: Did a closed meeting happen and, if so, does it fall under one of the exceptions?"
The ombudsman is at least as well-equipped as a contract employee to make that determination, plus he imbues the process with the added benefit of public legitimacy, which the process adopted by city council sorely lacks.
© 2007 Sun Media Corporation. All rights reserved.
Posted by Anonymous | December 22, 2007 7:31 AM
Posted on December 22, 2007 07:31