Windsor Legal Fund

I had talked about this once before [BLOG June 12, 2007 "The Speech The Mayor Would Not Hear"] but I did not do much about the subject since I frankly had other things to occupy my time. Now lots of people are talking and writing about using the court system as a rememdy against a seemingly remote and out-of-touch Mayor and Council.

After attending Council last week and reading the transcript that Chris Schnurr published, I want to think more seriously about setting up a Legal Fund that will act in a sense as an "Ombudsman" to protect citizens from their own Government.

There have been a fair number of comments about conflict of interest and lawsuits in the various Windsor BLOGsites and a very good Letter to the Editor by Merv dePendleton who was supposed to appear as a delegation on the WUC matter. Read the transcript posted by Chris Schnurr on his BLOGsite to see the facts that give rise to this discussion.

What got me more interested was this note from a reader:

• "Perhaps the time has come for the citizens of Windsor to form a Citizen's Council which will openly discuss all matters affecting the residents of the municipality.
  
  Something a little more than a "Shadow Cabinet" - one that holds public meetings and develops consensual solutions to common problems; holds public debates about issues; polls the residents. There should be absolutely no renumeration for anyone. A core group of informed citizens can form a team that will present issues to the public and invite debate.
  
  Hold weekly meetings - publish the agenda in the Windsor Star - create a web page - invite media coverage - attract those who actually care about the municipality to come and speak. It can become a very legitimate and powerful body through the force of public support and through the establishment and maintenance of unimpeachable integrity.
  
  Windsor City Council has become irrelevant and corrupted by powergrabbing and personal political grubbing. There is no integrity. It is totally unprincipled. (That is not just my opinion, but that of many of my colleagues)

What a sad commentary about Open and Transparent Government in Windsor or really, the lack thereof. Remember what Eddie said in his Platform when he first ran for Mayor:

• "It has often been said that local government is the closest to the people. We must consistently ensure that this remains true. There is a need to restore the public’s trust in our institutions and in our ability to govern. People must no longer feel cut off from City Hall. Their sense of apathy and cynicism must be replaced with a feeling of accessibility and welcome. "

To be honest, I have no trust that our municipal government is doing the right thing. I believe little of what is said. I know that the McGuinty Liberals did us a disservice by extending the length of the Council term by a year without any remedy for a Mayor and Council who are out of control eg a right of recall.

After what we have experienced with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs so far on the WUC audit, do you feel comfortable that they will do a thorough job or will it be a whitewash?

My reader wants a forum where the issues can be debated and in the open. That is what our LOCAL government Council was supposed to be all about except when in camera meetings started to become the vogue. Unless something changes drastically due to Councillors reacting to what they have done to make fools of themselves, I do not think that this Mayor and Council would listen anyway.

I am afraid that our only forum may well be a Court of Law. More of this another time when I get some thoughts together