MegaThanks to whoever wrote last week's Editorial in the Mississauga News --you hit it dead-on.
MISSISSAUGA NEWS Editorial & Opinion
Board hiding behind lawyersFebruary 21, 2008 11:08 PM - You have to give the trustees at the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB) a little credit: At least they are openly admitting they're hiding behind the skirts of a "legal opinion".
Trustees at DPCDSB, however, still should be hanging their heads in shame.
On the advice of the legal advisors, trustees have opted to shield themselves from the pointed questions of concerned parents by not attending Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) meetings or public consultations.
Although trustees will not attend meetings where parents upset over the possible closure of neighbourhood schools might ask for answers to their questions, they have posted their legal opinion on the Board's website.
While that move might satisfy the Board's legal team, it it unlikely to satisfy parents worried about where their children will attend school next year.
Seemingly, protecting their butts is more important to the Board's trustees than being accessible to their constituents, the same taxpayers who voted them into office, the parents of the children whose interests they were elected to protect.
Transparency, apparently, is only a word on a spelling test at the Catholic Board.
Good on ya, MissyNews! It's a good start.
TODAY'S MISSISSAUGA CHALLENGE
The Mississauga News writing, "Transparency, apparently, is only a word on a spelling test at the Catholic Board. Sadly-- I suspect that the Peel Board trustees are no different.
Today is Mississauga Council day. Lots happening.
Today, I challenge anyone watching Mississauga Council --on ROGERS or perhaps from the Council Chamber benches-- to observe Councillors through a new lens. Please. Try it --it's revealing.
LES (Former) TRUSTEES
Mississauga Councillors George Carlson, Sue McFadden and Pat Mullin were school Trustees at one time. Mississauga Council even has a former Director of the Peel School Board siitting in a black leather chair for Ward 6. Then there's Councillor Pat Saito --not a school trustee but--
--Councillor Saito's biography states "As a special education teacher for the Metropolitan Toronto School Board, she taught developmentally disabled children for six years."
LES "FIVE"
Lots of "issues" on the agenda. Lakeview, Mississauga Crime Prevention Association, Awards, Rambos (yes, plural), an "Our Future Mississauga --Visioning Charrette" report, even Enersource.
Just as an exercise, and for a "challenge", let's view the performances of Councillors Carlson, McFadden, Mullin, Parrish as former school board Trustees and Councillor Pat Saito --former Special Education teacher.
Signed,
The (Off to *groan* Council --not sure I can take this. Tra la...) Mississauga Muse
P.S. Will provide update later today.
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"The truth is that we, as a society - all of us - simply don't consider children very important. We talk a good game but we don't think kids are as important as other things, like fixing the roads." - Jim Paul Nevins (Ontario Court Judge October 4, 2001 report)