Not to rain on this parade, but when I hear the words “fast track” from government, my first response is “yeah right”. That lawsuit Morris launched took 2 years to be ruled a SLAPP. Then there were court fees that had to be hashed out. “Fast tracking” will be brought down to what kind of timing? Couple of days? Weeks? Months? Year? It’s very hard to be excited about any announcement from this government.
Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 29 October 2015 at 08:57Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "FOR YOUR INFORMATION":
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We already have the Federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect us.
The proclamation would make a nice wallpaper design for a small washroom.
The Ontario blurb makes no reference to responsible parties in SLAPP lawsuits. In our town's experience, they are most likely modern day municipal politicians; creatures of the Province and subject to the Municipal Act which in turn, is meaningless in the face of a Council that decides its own omnipotence.
Cluttering up the books with more laws and regulations to simplify matters is not a solution.
The Municipal Act includes legislation against Conflict of Interest. It requires a citizen at his/her
expense to file a complaint.... a Provincial Act with the Province taking no responsibility whatsoever for
Enforcement.
It merely lures citizens into believing the Act actually means something.
Last I heard, former Mayor Rob Ford is the only politician found guilty under the legislation and that decision was reversed on appeal.
A former Mayor of East Gwillimbury was once found to have cast a vote to his pecuniary advantage but the charge was dismissed because the Judge ruled "He didn't mean to"
It appears Courts routinely dismiss the charge, indicating unwillingness to do in the courts what the politicians won't.
Code of Conduct legislation was brought forward on recommendation of Chief Justice Bellamy in the
wake of the Public Inquiry into the ,"computer leasing scandal in Toronto.
Millions of dollars beyond budget were spent on leasing computers.
Wining and dining and sex and sweet talk and flights on private jets to sports events in foreign jurisdictions, and furtive meetings in underground public parking , for money to change hands and a family trip to Disneyland, were all part of the evidence swept together in a pile.
$19 Million of city resources were expended for the Public Inquiry to uncover every sleazy detail of the affair in 1999/10
No charges were ever laid. A staff person was terminated. Later she appealed wrongful dismissal.
Permissive Code of Conduct legislation complete with appointment of Integrity Commissioner was introduced at Queen's Park. It was mandatory for the City of Toronto.
We have experience of that also in Aurora and how effective it turned out to be.
A lawyer was retained at public expense and instructed by politicians to seek and discover a complaint.
An Integrity Commissioner was appointed with authority under the Act to receive and investigate the complaint. Only to discover the complaint was written by a lawyer retained for the purpose and published.
Integrity Commissioner dismissed the complaint with severely critical things to say about process and motivation .
The Municipal Clerk, sole conduit under the Act between Commissioner,complainant and person complained about ,made a " personal decision" to retire the day she distributed the decision.
Almost concurrently the Integrity Commissioner was stripped of authority but too late to bury the decision alongside his authority.
Yet another piece of flighty legislation is pending. The Province is contemplating giving municipalities authority ,if they so choose, to Piggyback on the Provincial land transfer tax as a new source of revenue.
$10,000. upwards on a sliding scale according to value of property.
Such new revenue to be shared equally with the Province.
New spending money with municipal councils carrying the can.
Taxes hidden in the price of a home in the GTA are already in the hundreds of thousands.
The price is the measurement for market value assessment.
The property owner pays taxes on taxes, forever and a day thereafter.
Taxes may even be close to thre cost of building a house.
Governments at all levels mouth the need for affordable housing. I think the United Nations has declared shelter to be a right.
There is no integrity in the machinations of government to obscure reality.
It's a tangled web they weave and with our indifference we concede.
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3 comments:
It's one of the announcements of what I call a comfort law. It makes them feel good, looks like they are doing something positive and
provides absolutely no back- up legislation or financing. Kind of like the one about not smoking in all sorts of places. It just gets shoved onto another layer. Enforcement will be a seldom thing.
More theatrical performances by this irresposible government. They've also just announced how they have a 10yr deadline to end homelessness. That will be a good show. It's staring Deb Mathews! Yup the same star that ran the show at the health ministry. E-health, Orange were proud moments for this government.
The provincial opposition parties are going to have to get working. There is damage that can be done and yet
I have seen no indication that they feel any pressure. Maybe waiting until closer to an election. That would be a
mistake imo.
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