Councils and Their CAO
A good relationship between a municipal council and their town’s CAO is crucial to smooth, effective and efficient governance. The CAO is the liaison between council and staff, responsible for…
Municipal politics
Collingwood council’s committee system is broken
Last term, council approved a recommendation from the CAO to dump its traditional structure of council and public committees, to an internal system of standing committees filled only with politicians.…
The tail wags the dog again
In January, the CAO coupled a ‘sky-is-falling’ presentation about the town’s debt with a proposed 5.11 percent tax increase. * Councillor Kevin Lloyd made a motion to have staff bring…
What’s Wrong with Municipal Bonusing?
Until the early 1970s, municipalities in Ontario were involved in a free-for-all competition to attract business and industry. They offered tax breaks, free land, free infrastructure, utilities or services, housing…
The Case for ‘Yes’ in Metro Vancouver’s Transit Referendum
Well, anybody could have called this one. According to a new survey by Insights West, 53 per cent of residents plan to vote No in the upcoming 2015 Metro Vancouver…
Whitewash
In early January, Council was presented with a report by outside consultants on the state of the shared service agreement between Collus/Powerstream and the town. The report, however, was rejected…
Open for Business, But Not For Your Input
Did you happen to read the town ad on the inside page in the Enterprise Bulletin this weekend? February 6, top of page D7? I’m betting you didn’t because no…
Yes, you can fight city hall.
Local readers of Babel-on-the-Bay have asked occasionally why we do not discuss city politics in Barrie. The honest answer is that city politics in Barrie is boring and is something…
The Hypocrisy Starts
It didn’t long for the hypocrisy to start at council. Monday night, council approved a five-year contract for an unsolicited proposal from the town’s only (monopoly) taxi service without going…
Professional Politicians? Not Here…
There’s an editorial in the January 29 edition of the Collingwood Connection that underscores how little the local media really understand local politics, and how biased it remains. Which is…
Will Chief Blair also use the Nuremburg defence?
Lawyers at the disciplinary hearing over a senior Toronto police officer’s actions during the G20 fiasco want Police Chief Bill Blair called to testify. The hearing should also hear why…
That was another good year.
The New Year came and went and it was such a busy time for political comment that we missed commenting on the past year. And that year needs a look.…
A new age of civility for Toronto.
Welcome to Toronto of 2015. There is a new chief magistrate, a new regime, a new spirit of cooperation with all levels of government and a mayor who brings a…
How about gun control that works?
Just for a couple minutes, we can assume that the coming federal election will create a government other than that controlled by the Conservative Party. And, if we are finished…
Not likely, David Peterson.
Former Liberal Premier David Peterson has been labelled as a left-wing social democrat by the Toronto Star. It is hardly the first time the Star has been wrong but even…
Arm-wrestling with police services.
Just like Toronto Mayor John Tory, this writer once thought he could make a difference on the local Police Services Board. The boards are made up of elected municipal politicians…
These people can’t even spell ‘Rabbit.’
There is a group in Toronto promoting ranked balloting in municipal elections. They call themselves RaBIT. This means Ranked Ballot Initiative in Toronto. They seem to be also linked to…
The Tory-Wynne Two-Step.
They might not be Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (if you are old enough to remember the era) but Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne have more…
Tory takes over in Toronto.
The problem is that we sometimes get what we ask for. On February 10 this year Babel-on-the-Bay was pleased to note that John Tory would be running for mayor of…
Why does a culprit pick the judge?
It must be one of those anomalies you come across in the Canadian judicial system. It is justifiable curiosity to wonder why someone as guilty as Chief William Blair of…