Accountability In Windsor

I see that the Conservatives have introduced the Federal Accountability Act.

Part of the Act deals with post-employment activities. The Government states that "These changes will give the Commissioner of Lobbying the independence and necessary powers to ensure that lobbying is done in a transparent and ethical way. Canadians will be reassured that former senior public-office holders do not use their personal connections to obtain special favours from government once they leave office, and that conflict-of-interest situations do not arise while they hold office."

The Act would "prohibit ministers, ministerial staffers, and senior public servants from registering and lobbying the Government of Canada for five years after leaving office."

We in Windsor had the opportunity to pass a similar Resolution with respect to post-employment conduct. (See September 30, 2005 "Conflicts" Motion That Council Has Forgotten")

On March 29, 2004, Councillor Postma introduced a Motion that I thought balanced fairly the competing interests of politicians and the public. I thought it took some guts for her to do that being a rookie on Council. However, our action-oriented Council, with only the Mayor declaring an interest and abstaining, deferred the matter "pending a report from administration in 4 weeks..." We are still waiting for the Report.

Perhaps it might be something for the new Mayor and Council to look into. It won't be dealt with by this group. I expect that some members of Council may now be very concerned about who their new employer might be after the November election.