LOTS HAPPENING MISSISSAUGA DUDES AND DUDETTES
First, thanks again to Anonymous for letting us know that Niagara Council decided to go with the Ontario Ombudsman on Thursday!
From the St. Catharines Standard, "Region will use ombudsman as investigator"
Also in the news --unfortunate but what can you do?...
Ombud called to check council meeting"By Alison Bell
Fort Erie
Jan 18, 2008Someone thinks something fishy happened at a Fort Erie council meeting.
Following a complaint by a resident, the town is the first municipality in the province to come under the microscope of Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin.
At Monday's meeting, Mayor Doug Martin announced he received word from Marin's office that a complaint was filed about council's first meeting of the year.
The Jan. 7 meeting was held off-site in the Peace Bridge Authority's conference room and was closed to the public for training purposes."
MISSISSAUGAWATCH has every confidence that "the first municipaltity in the province to come under the microscope of Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin" will also be the first municipality to be cleared by the Ontario Ombudsman.
We believe in Fort Erie. Bottomline --they went with The Ombudsman. Fort Erie was one of only 20 Ontario municipalities to do what's right for their citizens. When they do get cleared, it'll be seen as a legit decision via the Ontario Ombudsman.
And get this --the Beauty of an Ombudsman Investigation. Even if the closed-meeting decision went against them, citizens would conclude (as I would) that it was an honest mistake on Fort Erie's part.
Now some municipalities (you reading this, Brampton?) might *sniff* about the Ontario Ombudsman's free investigations inviting "frivilous and vexatious" crank-complaints. Some municipalities (you reading this, Brampton?) might *sniff* some more and even suggest that Fort Erie invited the first closed-meeting complaint by choosing the Ontario Ombudsman route.
Pure Bullschwa. Mississauga's Local Authority Services "investigations" will also be free. Free has nothing to do with it.
Hnnhh... The First "closed meeting" Complaint...
The weird thing is that anyone complained at all about that Fort Erie training-thingie. Seems to me the complainant/s didn't read Bill 130 and the "Educational/training session" provision. Here. Allow me.
103. (1) Section 239 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:
Educational or training sessions
(3.1) A meeting of a council or local board or of a committee of either of them may be closed to the public if the following conditions are both satisfied:
1. The meeting is held for the purpose of educating or training the members.
2. At the meeting, no member discusses or otherwise deals with any matter in a way that materially advances the business or decision-making of the council, local board or committee.
I checked and checked. Nowhere in the Act is "educational" or "training" defined. So, a training session to educate councillors on (say) Bill 130 qualifies for a closed session.
Training a city council on CPR would also qualify as an "educational session". So would how to use a council fire extinguisher. So would introducingBlackberrys to Council members. So would how to walk and chew gum at the same time --or how not to move your councillor-lips when reading.
All these topics would qualify as "educational/training sessions" under the Act and therefore allow councils to tuck themselves behind closed doors.
Frankly I can't see how any council can bungle Bill 130 "educational or training sessions" let alone some citizen file a complaint. A successful complaint, I mean.
I guess we'll see.
I prepared this video to highlight Fort Erie Mayor, Doug Martin's Bill 130 Accountability Bottomline. He cuts dead-centre right into the Heart of the Accountability-issue. Only Fort Erie held a public meeting and invited the Ontario Ombudsman to address council --AND citizens.
Only Fort Erie.
(Click here to go directly to YouTube or Google Video)
Only 21 out of 445 Ontario municipalities understand what Accountability means.
And how did Mississauga deal with the Investigator issue?
(Click here to go directly to YouTube)
Make no mistake. As MISSISSAUGAWATCH has stated repeatedly, municipalities are choosing Local Authority Services (or hiring their own hand-selected "investigator") as a means to AVOID investigations by the Ontario Ombudsman.
And now, it isn't just MISSISSAUGAWATCH saying so.
Check out the 16th page from this "Closed Meeting Investigator Presentation to General Committee October 29, 2007"
AVOID the Ontario Ombudsman. Here ya go.
YEP. GOOD OL' ONTARIO MUNICIPAL PLAN B...
"Option B: Council Appointed Investigator
Municipalities can avoid investigation by the Provincial Ombudsman by appointing their own closed meeting investigators.
To-date, this appears to be preferred approach for most municipalities."
"preferred approach"... it certainly is and Ontario citizens can thank The Association of Ontario Municipalties (AMO) --and "Mr. Nice".
If you think Ontarians would have a better chance with the Conservatives, I personally asked John Tory a simple question. All I got back was a "Not in our lifetimes" Porky-Pig-Ol'-Softshoe.
Yeah. I know... but if you think you're depressed, remember I'm the poor sot who had to research and then write this stuff!
TIME FOR A PICK-ME-UP
FUN VIDEO. GOIN' OUT, WITH RESPECT AND APPRECIATION, TO FORT ERIE AND NIAGARA COUNCIL!
The (Ontario Municipal Governance. Help. Someone please help...) Mississauga Muse
P.S. Ontario municipality stats (source: Council meeting complaints investigators pitch services Posted By Matthew Van Dongen)
"(Gareth) Jones (Ontario Ombudsman's Office) said about 112 municipalities have signed on with LAS (Local Authority Services) and 20 with the ombudsman (Niagara Region has now made this 21).
More than 200 have yet to declare a preference. If they don’t, the ombudsman is the default option."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Municipalities can avoid investigation by the Provincial Ombudsman by appointing their own closed meeting investigators. To-date, this appears to be preferred approach for most municipalities." --Town of Markham, October 29, 2007
"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.
FELLOW-CITIZEN BLOGGERS
The CRYSTAL BEACH STRAND (Fort Erie Citizen-Blogger, Sharon Bowers)
TORONTOIAM (compilation of GTA Blogs)
Voices of Ajax (Citizen-Blogger, Karem Allen)
WindsorCityBlog (Citizen-Blogger, Ed Arditti)
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
"MISSISSAUGA --HOWZIT'S GOING" CARTOON ARCHIVE
Links to all previous cartoons in the Mississauga Howzit's Going series.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------