Toronto Strike Highlights Need for Municipalities Inquiry

During yesterday's rather heated debate at Toronto city hall over whether the strike deal should be ratified, council took a rare but not unprecedented step. In a motion during the debate that only one councillor voted against, video feeds were cut and all members of the media and the public were asked to leave. The debate over the deal continued behind closed doors away from the public eye. At the federal and provincial level, such a motion would violate the rules of parliament but it is perfectly legal for municipal councils. Of course this is raising many questions over what exactly was discussed during that closed door debate among a sadly dysfunctional. Whether or not you agree with the contract or the strike itself is a moot point. Looking at the bigger picture, we have been presented with a mayor who has chosen to conduct city business in the utmost secrecy, and someone who is not afraid to stretch their autocratic muscle should they not get their way. As much as a weenie David Miller appears to be in public, he strikes me as being ruthless in his dealings outside of preying eyes. During the part of the debates that did make it to the media, Miller accused councillors who planned to veto the contract of "hating" Toronto, and furthermore claimed their dissent was a personal attack against him. The public was not kept informed regarding the mediation process, they were kept in the dark by the mayor, and when we finally had something, they were shut out of the debate. This is not democratic. This is the kind of government behaviour I would expect in the People's Republic of China or Cuba.

This is just another addition in a long line of scandals that the city has tried to keep under wraps. Councillors have been caught spending taxpayer money like water on their expense accounts, billing everything from fine dining to one particularly chintzy member who billed a bottle of Advil to the city. Debates over misspending have raged since Miller became mayor despite his main campaign platform in the first election being to clean up city hall. He actually had a broom in hand when he made that statement, as if we need another walking political cliche. Toronto is now plagued by crumbling infrastructure that it cannot pay for, mainly due to councillors' pet projects and generous contracts for unionized labour. Toronto may not be a dangerous city, crime wise, but it sure looks like it. No longer maintaining its clean reputation, the city is downright dirty even at the best of times; and examining critical infrastructure is like hopping in the DeLorean to go back to 1955. The council just uses tax payers like their own private bank account, and McGuinty's foolish City of Toronto Act has allowed them to accelerate that process unrestrained with all sorts of new user fees.

Unfortunately, corruption issues within Ontario municipalities are not limited to Toronto. It is just more noticeable there due to the larger media presence and variety. I've taken strong issues with the way the Town of Milton operates. Both Vaghan and Ottawa's mayors have seen court cases with accusations over electoral fraud. Other cities in the GTA, such as Burlington and Brampton also have serious issues with corruption according to the scuttlebutt in political circles. What goes on behind the closed doors of Ontario's city hall would probably make your blood boil. Everybody knows it; however, it's extremely difficult to prove. Given what we know about in Toronto, I do believe there is substantial enough cause for some sort of provincially led investigation into how municipalities in Ontario are being run. While many would balk at the idea of spending millions more in tax dollars, I think the situation has gone beyond critical mass and that there is no other way to deal with it. Most municipal politicians, is seems, care little of what their constituents think; partially out of arrogance, partially because nobody votes. This attitude is the vary antithesis of the responsible government concept that this nation was built on.

The Ontario government first of all needs to appoint a group of independent, non-partisan auditors to comb through the books of a select number of municipalities where there are the largest number of complaints. Sniff out any questionable expenses and "income sources" that councillors and civil servants might have. From there, if proof of corruption if found, it may be necessary to investigate the personal finances and assets of said individuals. Look at everything from voting records to ties to stakeholders such as big time land developers. From there, a system of checks and balances needs to be set up to ensure councillors and civil servants must remain fully transparent and accountable to their citizens. I think it is time to do what the United States has always done and appoint municipalities as a third level of government, rather than having them as self-governing corporate entities under the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing as they are now. Doing so would require councils to operate under the same decorum, constitutional conventions, and procedures that Parliament and the Legislature are required to operate under. Failing that, each city should at vary least have an independent auditor general and ombudsman appointed by the province to investigate citizens' complaints. Once who is accountable only to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and not city council.
City councils must be roped in through some way, shape, or form to make sure citizens are getting the kind of democratic government they deserve.