This blog was started back
in 2009 to highlight what I and my then blogging partner viewed as
the declining respect for democracy by the then recently elected
federal leader , one Stephen Harper. I now find myself appalled to
see a similar mind set being displayed by the freshly elected Ontario
leader Doug Ford who less than a month into his mandate is
arbitrarily and with little or no consultation shutting down many
long standing programs.
Whilst the specific
programs and initiatives being discontinued are in my view more in
need of a tweak or two than elimination it is the manner in which
such changes are being announced or made that bothers me more. I
doubt very much that the dozens of 'new' MPPs are even up to speed
yet and I suspect that even those who are members of the Con inner
circle have not been 'consulted' on any of the sudden and fundamental
changes being almost daily announced by Ford. The announcement
regarding the composition of Toronto council just as the election
nomination process closed being one such example.
The Ontario legislature is
somewhat different from the federal one which is where my focus was
for nearly 10 years, it having no secondary chamber of checks and
balances and with a majority government in power effectively has no
limits upon legislation it can pass. Even it would seem being able to
dictate to municipalities the composition of their councils without
further debate, at least in the case of Toronto who discontinued
their association with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario
some years ago.
Even those smaller
municipalities who are members of the AMO could in theory be dictated
to by the province (i.e. Ford) in that they only have a Memorandum Of
Understanding with the province who can override their wishes any
time they wish (as happened during 'amalgamation). The AMO should be
'consulted' but has no recourse in law.....
“The objective of
consultation with AMO is to receive input on proposals and to
identify impacts that would arise from a proposed statutory or
regulatory change and its implementation.
In the spirit of fairness,
openness and good faith, any proposed change in legislation or
regulations that, in Ontario’s opinion, will have a significant
financial impact on the current municipal budget year or on the
current municipal budget planning cycle will be accompanied by prior
consultation.
….....Failure of the
parties to comply with this Memorandum does not affect the validity
of any action taken by the parties or give rise to any rights or
remedies by the parties.
In short it seems that a
majority Ontario government can dictate to any and all municipalities
the structure and composition of their councils should they be so
inclined. Under the current 'leader' and his minions that thought is
very scary given his recent announcements and promised actions.
Less you think that such
thoughts are alarmists you may wish to review
a few of the actions
of the Harper government before
they really got rolling with their undemocratic agenda by viewing our
early posts in the
lists to the right.
1 comment:
Harper's agenda is alive and well, Rural. It just has another surname.
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