Hallellujah Hallelujah

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "OOPS!":

Why they figured Aurorans would be interested in watching a Newmarket high school football team rather than their own Town Council, I have no idea. (Although, I am glad that Huron Heights beat Rob Ford's Don Bosco)
The council meeting was tape-delayed until 6 AM this morning.
*****************
Look  at us!!!!

When I came back to Council in 2003,  televised Council meeting were held in poor regard. Some  Councillors felt other Councillors were performing for the cameras. 
Nobody, but n-o-o-b-o-d-e-e  even watched Council meetings anyway.
Then  we had  regular commentary from the cheap seats about how badly Aurora Council compared to the civilized comportment of Newmarket Council. 

I had a different impression. People  were indeed watching .They were forming their own judgements about matters before  Council and  the decisions made. 

I was disappointed that social media and  blogs didn't make a difference in the turn out in the last election. 

I'm very confident, they  impacted  the decision.But I hoped for a bigger turnout. 

But look at us now. 

Indignant  that the Council meeting was displaced for a football 
game. 

We are reading transcripts of court decisions. The  Rob Ford decision  has a wealth of information including references to a comment made by  David Mulland Toronto's first Integrity Commissioner and others  that Conflict of Interest  legislation  needs to be changed for  provide fairness for  a Councillor.

Didn't I tell you about the legislation being half-assed.

When Bill Davis was Premier and before him, municipalities were
 the Province's " little brothers" We helped them  do their job in providing government services in a way they could not. In turn we were consulted and received  respect and appreciation. 
Nowadays, municipal councils  are  favourite whipping boy for successive provincial governments. 
Conflict of Interest legislation and   Code of Conduct Act were knee -jerk reaction to individual  incidences of  corruption.  They  never came close to dealing with the culprits..
Those acts have caused far  more problems than they solved.
 
Deaths from contaminated water in Walkerton were the result of   termination of  the mandate of the Ontario Waters Resources Commission. 
An ignorant Council put an incompetent person in charge of the water system in Walkerton. 
People died.
The wrong man went to jail for causing their deaths, 
Now every elected official in Ontario, in  accordance with  the Safe Drinking Water Act, is liable for a jail term should any harm come to a resident if anything  goes awry with the water system.
That's draconian. 
In municipalities with tons and tons and tons of resources,like ours,  it's not much of a thing. 
But many small places in Ontario, still need the support of the Ontario Water Resources Commission.
It no longer exists. 
Instead, elected Councillors have the threat of jail hanging over their heads  should  the Walkerton tragedy  ever be repeated. 
Like a politicain in jail  after the fact, might compensate for a resident being dead from drinking contaminated water.  
Before Blog, there was never an opportunity for  a discussion about stuff  like this. Details were always too many for an average exchange. Not that they were  complicated .There's just too many. . 
The more experience a Councillor has, the wider the gap. the higher the leap.
Then we had  the jackasses who argued experience is  a liability.
and  term limits should be imposed. 
So today I'm feeling very positive. 
Council is taking control of the budget.
People are coming to Council meetings.
They  are watching on television. 
And  there's  a growing group of engaged citizenry.
We are even reading court  decisions.
And we have help from one among us ,who may be a legal  practitioner
Hallelujah !!!     

 .