MISSISSAUGA THIS'nTHATS
Hey there, yeah, I know... long time... tons happening and I mean TONS.
OK, you remember a previous Blog about The Corporation of the City of Mississauga going after "cyber squatters" using "mississauga" at the .ca domain? And how Mississauga Council dealt with this resolution?
"13. Resolution of Cybersquatter Problem and Recommendation that the City Solicitor be authorized to settle Intellectual Property matters Corporate Report dated January 2, 2008 from the City Solicitor with respect to the resolution of the Cybersquatter problem and a recommendation that the City Solicitor be authorized to settle intellectual property matters."
plus this part?
"2. That the part of the Report dated January 2, 2008 from the City Solicitor describing the resolution of the Cybersquatter problem relating to the domain names "mississaugatransit.ca" and "mississaugalibrary.ca" be received for information."
And how I said that "the domain names "mississaugatransit.ca" and "mississaugalibrary.ca" gave me an idea?... Well....
ANNOUNCING MISSISSAUGAWATCH.ca
MISSISSAUGAWATCH announces the launch of its new .ca website, MISSISSAUGAWATCH.ca at mississaugawatch.ca
Currently, it is under construction and its MISSISSAUGWATCH.ca's only task is to link back to Mississauga Musings.
Plans for MISSISSAUGAWATCH.ca are ambitious. One of the first things we hope to accomplish is the design of an Ontario Municipal Government Rating Scale (think Homeland Security's Advisory System --similar to the American "color-coded terrorism threat advisory scale.").
Only ours will be a 10-point scale. If your municipality makes it to 12 (yes, our 10-point scale will go through the roof to 12) citizens of that municipality have one toxic evil empire on their hands.
To give you an idea, Scale 11 has this municipal-rating symbol.
Resources will also include Freedom of Information format-questions that we've found successful for you to drop down on your municipality in order to peer behind their Corporate Mask.
EXPANDING MISSISSAUGAWATCH INVESTIGATIONS
Last week MISSISSAUGAWATCH attended a Maui County Council Meeting in order to test the openness of this Hawaiian Council.
This Municipal Openness Test-1 is so easy. Just walk into any municipal council, set up a tripod and video camera (I had two going) and hit RECORD. ***
That's precisely what The Mississauga Muse did Friday, January 25, 2008 inside Maui County Council Chambers. (And I did this wearing my CANADA cap to drop down a hint to this American council that I might be a foreign national.)
Get this. One Maui Council Staffer saw me and smiled. Smiled!
During a long break another Council Staff came up to me and we talked story. He asked why I was videotaping --not in a challenging way, understand, just curious.
Well, I told him about my own experiences with Ontario municipalities, about Mississauga Council and their video surveillance and security guards, about Caledon Council and how they denied me use of their images during their deliberations on "Accountability and Transparency" no less.
The Maui Staffer seemed to enjoy talking to me. I told him how I met BIG BROTHER face-to-face and how I now LOATHE Him. He grinned and said, "Big Brother... I haven't heard that in a while." And he said that we're of the same generation, same books, "1984", "Animal Farm", "Brave New World"... and us having read those three books saved hours of discussion.
We understood.
I told him not to think that Ontario was all municipal evil empires. I told him about Fort Erie Council and the Region of Niagara. I explained my frustration in not being able to fully report on Maui Council's openness. Or Fort Erie's either.
I explained it would be irresponsible of me to post such details to the Internet. That the very act of Maui and Fort Erie's openness also makes them vulnerable to malicious abuse.
The Maui Staffer told me that he never thought of it quite like that before.
And I said it's already my experience that open muncipal councils are not only rare in Ontario but are much like endangered species. I told him that I now feel protective of Maui Council and Fort Erie Council.
And The Staffer found that a revelation --that I felt "protective".
I told him not only do I feel protective but I cherish openness --that was the word, "cherish". That open councils are "treasures" and... well, I can't tell you what the Staffer said, because I'm protective of open councils.
By their nature, open councils are fragile things --vulnerable to abuse. I suspect that the greatest source of abuse likely comes from their evil-empire neighbouring municipalities!
I felt at home inside Maui Council chambers. There was a civility there totally lacking inside Mississauga Council chambers. For one thing, when one person talked (be that officials/staff or citizen-presenters), everyone else's mouth was closed and listening. RESPECT.
Here's video of The Mississauga Muse coverage of the January 25, 2008 Maui County Council meeting. Maui Council, along with Fort Erie Council, along with Niagara Regional Council all receive the GREEN LIGHT on our Ontario Municipal Government Rating Scale. Cherish ("Malama") Openness as you would an Endangered Species.
(Click here to go directly to YouTube or Google Video)
Signed,
The (Mahalo Nui Loa, Maui County Council!) Mississauga Muse
*** [*January 29th Update: It would be irresponsible of me not to caution readers, however. Please be aware that should you unknowingly walk into a Code 11 or 12 evil empire, you will need to take precautions! Email me for specifics.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"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.
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------