How Would City Types Look In Orange Jumpsuits?
What kind of municipal government do you have when it doesn’t obey the law? The $38-million Ottawa budget hole flies in the face of a provincial statute.
What kind of legitimacy does the city have in passing laws when the city doesn’t obey the law? Why should people obey the law when our law-makers won’t obey the law?
It’s hard to know whether the city is just lazy, defiant or arrogant. It is certainly illegal in dealing with the budget. The municipal budget must be balanced. That’s the law.
Maybe it’s time for the province to look into this and decide what fines or arrests should be made to enforce the law.
And should council be allowed to stand if it is purposely breaking the law? This is a government out of control. Here’s a radical concept. The city should obey the law.
And if it doesn’t, the province should see that the law is obeyed. Enforcement. If Queen’s Park won’t enforce the law, this is a terrible precedent for the legitimacy of government in Canada.
I wonder if this would happen if Canada were the 51st state? Would the U.S. state and federal governments demand that the city obey the law? Damn right they would. They don’t fool around much in the United States with this sort of thing.
And what kind of government do we have in Canada when the law-makers won’t obey the law. That’s bordering on anarchy and certainly illegality. Maybe more.
Perhaps the province should make municipalities flouting the law suffer criminal consequences. Maybe some criminal records.
That would get their attention. That $38 million sure is a lot of money. People have gone to jail for much less.
An easier route might be to obey the law and give the municipal government legitimacy because at present, we’re flirting with Trumpland here.
But a more interesting path might be to get some orange jumpsuits ready for city types who think the law is just a suggestion.
The rule of law is vital and even more important for government bodies that make those rules.
Ken Gray
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At this point, I doubt that any level of government in Canada is obeying the laws of the country!
The penalties for failure to comply with the law are likely set out in the statute. It would be interesting to know what those penalties are. Failing to pass a balanced budget is not a criminal code offense, so scratch that from the list of proposed remedies.
Start with specific compliance. When a law says do it, do it. Stomp your feet. Hold your breath. Refuse to speak to me ever again. Whatever combination and permutation of immature hissy fits that suits your fancy, and demonstrates to your fan base that you are on their side. Then balance the budget. Period.
Refuse to do so? Bring down the full force of the provincial statutes on to the shoulders of each and every member of council who voted for the unbalanced budget. Those councillors who did not vote to approve the budget should receive the same fate, unless they have articulated, on the public record that one of the reasons that they refused to vote in favour of the budget was because it was not in compliance with provincial laws. I would sincerely hope that the remedies in the statute include summary dismissal, for cause.
Senior management should be censured (a serious black mark on their career prospects), unless they can present clear written documentation that they sent to each and every member of council that advises council that the statutes of the province require a balanced budget. Abetting a breach of the law should have consequences.
A good starting point would be a well-written letter to Doug Ford on behalf of concerned citizens of Ottawa. I stress the point “well-written” in order to get myself off the hook because, while I take pride in solving problems, my writing is sub-standard. At the bottom of the letter an RSVP should be included. It would likely take a couple of attempts to get beyond a canned rersponse from one of Ford’s administrators (“We appreciate your concerns with . . . .”) but if the problem is not escalated it will never be addressed by the adults in the room and city council will continue to act like toddlers being attended to by an incompetent caregiver.