Why Won’t Sutcliffe Sweep City Hall Clean? THE VOTER
Long-time Bulldog contributor The Voter wonders why Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is so reluctant to look at past questionable activities of previous municipal politicians and city staff.
There is scope, even if the previous city council did nothing and the current continues to do nothing, for others to step up and hold those three principals behind the LRT woes and perhaps others accountable.
I say others because former mayor Jim Watson plus senior staffers John Manconi and Steve Kanellakos were not the only ones directly involved or watching from the sidelines and doing nothing to put a stop to things.
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Kanata South Councillor Allan Hubley is an obvious example but there were other people on that WhatsUp chat group and involved in various ways with the LRT process who knew or ought to have known that what was going on was wrong.
Who gave the information to the three that they later withheld from council or lied about? What about Watson’s staff? Are we supposed to believe they knew nothing about all of this? What about other people in Manconi’s and Kanellakos’ offices and other staff in their departments? What about the staff in the LRT office? None of them spoke out about the activities later condemned by the LRT provincial inquiry while they were occurring. Why not?
It doesn’t seem as if the city’s integrity commissioner intends to do anything about the LRT issues. However, the inquiry was established by the province and it is incumbent on that level of government to carry the probe’s findings forward to some resolution.
It’s not enough to say that Watson, Manconi and Kanellakos have left the city. That does not wipe out their actions and they should still be held to account. In addition, anyone else who was involved should similarly be made to face the music. There are people still working for OC Transpo and the city who were up to their necks in the LRT fiasco. What’s to say, if there are no consequences, that they won’t continue in the same vein?
The province needs to do a Stage 2 in addition to the inquiry’s work and invoke some punishment for anyone involved, particularly those already identified in the report. Otherwise, why wouldn’t others think that ethics, integrity, transparency and accountability are not necessary considerations when you are in public service, either in an elected or bureaucratic position?
No consequences for ignoring principles of openness, transparency and accountability are the surest guarantee that they will continue to be ignored. Of course, when Steve Clark, the minister of municipal affairs, is forced to resign because “open, transparent and accountable” seem to be things beyond his understanding, I suppose it’s unsurprising that nothing has come out of the LRT inquiry’s exposure of the nefarious activities at Ottawa City Hall. Clark may have been wondering what all the fuss was about.
And what about Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, the man recruited by Watson and his people to seek the mayor’s chair? He seems remarkably reluctant to examine any of the activities and decisions of the previous council.
Is that because he genuinely believes that a new broom shouldn’t be poking around a predecessor’s work? Or is it because he’s there to ensure that no broom tries to sweep out whatever’s under various rocks to expose it to the light of day?
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Maybe it’s time for him to ignore that famous saying of former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s, “Ya dance with the one that brung ya” and re-examine some of the previous council’s decisions in an open, accountable and transparent way.
That is, of course, if he really is his own man and not there to protect others who went before and are hiding in his shadow,
The Voter is a respected community activist and long-time Bulldog commenter who prefers to keep her identity private.
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To have the courage of one’s convictions, one first must have convictions … or more to the point, the right kind of convictions.
Everyone who populates the council chamber, and all those in the senior and mid-manager ranks (as the Voter so correctly points out) needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves: “What do I stand for? Integrity? Transparent, open and accountable government? Or is it just the pay cheque?”
The last mayor that was “his own man” was Larry O’Brien who tried to force his policies and ideals on city council and as a result exorcised himself from the group. While I don’t disagree with your comments, politics is a very slippery slope.
Mr. Benn,
While looking in the mirror each and every councillor should also ask the two following questions: does this job need me or do I need this job.