It's Official

[Blue Lk]

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Checkout the bottom of my sign tree

[rick_iles]

People don't like the tough questions..... If you ask them you are fishing. Why oh why has the use of the notwithstanding clause, not come up? Nothing from mosq. and the usuall suspects.

Probably because there was nothing wrong with Ford using it in this instance.

[73hunter]

Probably because there was nothing wrong with Ford using it in this instance.

Agreed. The clause was included in the Constitution for a reason, good to see we have a leader with the stones to use it, other provinces certainly have.

[fishermccann]

If mosq thought it's use was good , we would have heard that already ,......ad nauseam.

[Dythbringer]

I think this situation looks bad on numerous people.

Ford looks bad for a couple of reasons. It looks like a vendetta against people who disagreed with him when he was a councilor (it is pretty hard to deny this when he starts to name councilors in the media). He looks impatient by not letting the legal process play out during the appeal process before he invoked the Notwithstanding Clause. He looks heavy handed by invoking the NWC in a very regional issue compared to other provincial interests (let's not forget that the original ruling stated that the province was within it's rights to do this but had an issue with the timing so Ford could have waited until after the municipal election to do this). I think the NWC should be used as a very last option when the province is backed into a corner. This situation wasn't one of them and I suspect other instances where he may invoke it won't be either.

The mayor and city councilors who were crying foul about this look bad. City councilors aren't as important as they seem to think. Most residents have been told to contact the city (311 is the number I believe) to get most of their minor problems solved. City councilors only would be involved if the solution couldn't be solved in this manner. If the problem escalates to this manner, most people would be in contact with the councilor's office and staff who would act to solve the problem. Only if the problem needs an advocate (and would look good politically) will a councilor become involved. The way some of the councilor's are speaking in the media, you would think that the city will fall apart if city council doesn't have 47 councilors. If a councilor has to become an advocate for a problem in the city, then the rest of the councilors need to have their input into the problem. A larger city council means that more people will have to have their opinions known on a subject matter. While a city needs leadership (councilors need to be on boards such as police, fire, transit, etc), the more people on council, the more time needs to be devoted to resolving issues which affect the city. Just having a look at how much time has been wasted on the Scarborough subway line is a perfect example of this problem.

Finally, the supports of left side of the political spectrum who challenged Ford's decision to do this look bad. When Wynne was in power, she brought in some questionable policies. Certain people objected and threatened to take the matter to the courts. They were told that this is how democracy in our country works, they should accept it and if they didn't like the way the government was working, then we should vote them out. Well, they did and now the shoe is on the other foot, the left has taken the government to court (and has threatened to do so again on other policies). This is hypocrisy in the worst way. Threatening to do more because you don't like the Premier looks infantile.

Dyth

[fishermccann]

Dyth...a fine post. I agree about 95% with what you said.

[rick_iles]

I think this situation looks bad on numerous people.

Ford looks bad for a couple of reasons. It looks like a vendetta against people who disagreed with him when he was a councilor (it is pretty hard to deny this when he starts to name councilors in the media). He looks impatient by not letting the legal process play out during the appeal process before he invoked the Notwithstanding Clause. He looks heavy handed by invoking the NWC in a very regional issue compared to other provincial interests (let's not forget that the original ruling stated that the province was within it's rights to do this but had an issue with the timing so Ford could have waited until after the municipal election to do this). I think the NWC should be used as a very last option when the province is backed into a corner. This situation wasn't one of them and I suspect other instances where he may invoke it won't be either.

The mayor and city councilors who were crying foul about this look bad. City councilors aren't as important as they seem to think. Most residents have been told to contact the city (311 is the number I believe) to get most of their minor problems solved. City councilors only would be involved if the solution couldn't be solved in this manner. If the problem escalates to this manner, most people would be in contact with the councilor's office and staff who would act to solve the problem. Only if the problem needs an advocate (and would look good politically) will a councilor become involved. The way some of the councilor's are speaking in the media, you would think that the city will fall apart if city council doesn't have 47 councilors. If a councilor has to become an advocate for a problem in the city, then the rest of the councilors need to have their input into the problem. A larger city council means that more people will have to have their opinions known on a subject matter. While a city needs leadership (councilors need to be on boards such as police, fire, transit, etc), the more people on council, the more time needs to be devoted to resolving issues which affect the city. Just having a look at how much time has been wasted on the Scarborough subway line is a perfect example of this problem.

Finally, the supports of left side of the political spectrum who challenged Ford's decision to do this look bad. When Wynne was in power, she brought in some questionable policies. Certain people objected and threatened to take the matter to the courts. They were told that this is how democracy in our country works, they should accept it and if they didn't like the way the government was working, then we should vote them out. Well, they did and now the shoe is on the other foot, the left has taken the government to court (and has threatened to do so again on other policies). This is hypocrisy in the worst way. Threatening to do more because you don't like the Premier looks infantile.

Dyth

I can agree to a point. Had Ford waited until after the election, the disfunctional 47 would continue to get nothing done for the next four years. If anyone has sat on boards or committees, you would soon find out that the more people on those committees, the less you can get accomplished.....

[Dythbringer]

I can agree to a point. Had Ford waited until after the election, the disfunctional 47 would continue to get nothing done for the next four years. If anyone has sat on boards or committees, you would soon find out that the more people on those committees, the less you can get accomplished.....

I can see that. Ford could have done this on his first day rather than waiting.

I agree with you that the more people on a board, the less work gets accomplished.

[fishermccann]

Agreed , but I feel it should be up to the taxpayers and voters of any particular city or town to decide how many councillors it takes to run THEIR city. People on here are always voicing concerns about 'big brother', controlling their lives, yet ,this is an example of that, they are comfortable with.

[rick_iles]

Agreed , but I feel it should be up to the taxpayers and voters of any particular city or town to decide how many councillors it takes to run THEIR city. People on here are always voicing concerns about 'big brother', controlling their lives, yet ,this is an example of that, they are comfortable with.

Well, that’s clearly not the case. Municipal governance is the responsibility of the Province. Nobody knows this better than anyone in Kent County in 1998....