Time for the rubber to hit the road
TORONTO – All the planning, all the machinations, all the smoke and mirrors to hide purpose and character…come to a stop today for those who intend to “offer themselves to fulfil their civic duty” by seeking election to public office. If you are not registered by end of day today, you may not submit yourself as a candidate.
There are a couple of other fixed rules, unless you can circumvent obligations by relying questionable judicial rulings, indulgent Integrity Commissioners or semi-somnambulant civic officials who fail to apply the rules as written. But nothing stops people from pursuing personal interests. It is up to the public to defend its “interests”, or as a cynical partisan elected official famously said it is typically easy to beat the quadrennial “10 minute” democrats (the length of time to cast a ballot once every four years).
It is surprising that there not a flood of candidates in Toronto vying for the chance to secure a $200,000 a year salary for part-time work – that would be a Councillor’s salary. There must be a story there somewhere. What is shocking is the Press and Media reports re some Trustees (particularly in Catholic School District Boards) who will seek re-election to positions on Boards placed under supervision because of their incompetence in handling public monies, maladministration and general indifference to the culture of ethical behaviour with public resources.
In their case, the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association (realizing that silence equals tacit approval) has begun a campaign to salvage what dignity may be left. The Problem in their case, as with those in a similar circumstance in the Public District School Boards, is that the Association of Directors of Education has emerged as the “go-to” organization for the Ministry in all educational matters. Effectively, once they present proposals for motions and resolutions to their boards they will, to all intents and purposes, result in “being the law”. Since boards under supervision must deal with the only [authorized] trustee recognized by the Ministry, the task at hand is simple: get along with the Supervisor who is there to cover for the Director/CEO.
There “democratic process” – the mechanism for making decisions that stand up to our collective scrutiny – cannot be left to those whose sole justification for having a seat at the table is “because [they] love the job”. Their “love” is responsible for the mess in the system.