The Law Is In Disrepute

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "NOT...":
So you don't have to suspect anything.
Does this outcome really mean anything?
Are we all better off?
I think not. 
The whole system is doomed.
Fewer people working in the years to come to pay off their elders
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.Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "NOT...":

Thank you for the over-view. I actually kind of feel sorry for them until I remember the mess they have made. Friends in B.C. are hoping Liberals get removed in the spring . My only problem is finding something positive to support anywhere. Politicians sure aren't making any new friends and are losing their old ones.
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Good grief! The man who lost the defamation suit against Mayor Ford has filed an appeal! Will it never end?????
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In the last term of Mel Lastman,  first Mayor of the newly amalgamated City of Toronto, Bribery and Corruption were rampant within the corporation .
Millions of dollars more were  spent on computers and software than authorised. 
Money changed hands in an underground parking lot. High- flying jet- setting, wining, dining and bedding of  a female  official by an  exceptionally vigorous and  perhaps not particularly persuasive 
salesperson  was apparently  de rigeur of the day. 
In the first year of David Miller's Mayoralty, the Bellamy Inquiry 
was appointed  at a cost of  thirteen million or so.  to 
Breaches of Public Trust occurred . They could have resulted in jail terms . 
But no charges were laid.
Legal costs would undoubtedly  have been prohibitive.to the Province. 
In a knee-jerk reaction, Permissive legislation was introduced  by the new Liberal Government .

Municipalities had the option. They could adopt  Codes of Conduct.written to fit individual concepts the majority opinion   considered to  represent  "good conduct". 
The Golden Rule enforceable upon themselves.  governed by a Bylaw, to b enforced by an Integrity Commissioner given certain power and a process to follow. . 
The Code of Conduct Act itself, limits the power of  an Integrity Commissioner. 
Councillors can not be charged with an offence under The Act.
Penalties were specified.
An Integrity Commissioner could only recommend to Council. He/she has no power to impose a penalty 
A reprimand or suspension of remuneration for a period of three months are the  permitted penalties.
No room for creative penalties are provided in the legislation. 
No other penalties can  be imposed .
Toronto's  Integrity Commissioner  never had  authority to recommend  the Mayor be ordered to return funds , he didn't receive, to donors, who  contributed  to a fund to assist underprivileged youth in the Mayor's neighbourhood in  the pursuit of  excellence in the sport of Canadian Football
The Integrity Commissioner never had the power to devise or impose a penalty.
Once the recommendation is made to Council the Integrity Commissioner's job is done. 
Whether the issue should reached  the table for a Council debateis highly problematic.
With an army of lawyers  on the payroll and  statutory office of municipal clerk in place, how did that happen?  
The Mayor argued it ridiculous to order him to take money he  never received ,which had been used for the purpose it was solicited , and return it out of his own pocket to benefactors who gave it willingly and voluntarily.
It was not only ridiculous, it was beyond the authority of the Integrity Commissioner. 
Despite  warnings  from  Speaker of the Council and various  parties, who had no authority to advis ,the Mayor's insistence on expressing  judgement on the issue on the table. was  to the point of the debate.  
Municipalities may  adopt...or not.... depending ,I suppose, on how much bribery and corruption had been experienced  or whether some politicians perceive The Act as SUPERTOOL  to deal with a recalcitrant Councillor who may, or may not  choose to fall  into lockstep with the majority. 
Rob Ford, Toronto's duly elected Mayor, has obviously been a thorn in the side of many since he has been a Councillor. He certainly does not hide his light under a bushel
His voice and  views have found an echo among a  majority of Toronto residents.Two more years in office will determine hisfate in the next election. 
In the meantime, the new Premier of the Province . The Honorable Kathlen Wynne might do well to order a review of  the half-assed Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest legislation.
How  effective are they? 
How much  greater than  the cost of  a straight- forward criminal charge of Breach of Trust?
What is the value of an Oath of Office if  not enforced.?
How many nonsensical acts and regulations does it take, to bring  municipal law into total disrepute?    .   
   
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