Even though our Clarington council voted against endorsing direct election of the Chair of Durham Region, at it's Feb. 14th meeting, Regional council voted 15 to 13 to endorse Oshawa MPP Jerry Ouellette's private member's bill calling for the direct election of Durham's regional chairperson. Now it is up to the Province to pass the bill. Let's hope that will be the case.Mayor Parish , who has worked to change the way the Chair is appointed said,"Option two could be that (Municipal Affairs) Minister (John) Gerretsen might say they want this to go under the provisions of the triple majority act."
If that happens, five municipalities would have to vote in favour of direct election. In that case, Mayor Parish said the fate of the issue would rest in Whitby and Clarington. "Unless Whitby and Clarington change their position, you are not going to get a triple majority," Mayor Parish said.
Therefore it is important that Clarington take another look at it, seriously, without undue rhetoric or theatrics. Why not hold a public meeting on the issue, at an evening meeting so more people can attend. Or a web poll on the clarington.net website? Even a referendum is not binding unless at least 50% of the voting public responds, which never happens at election time and most certainly wouldn't even happen on a web poll. But why not let people have their say, or is this council afraid to do so? They seem to be listening on other topics, but for some reason just squirrel this issue away so it doesn't have to be dealt with out in the open.
Many residents of Clarington, and all over Durham Region, take this issue very seriously. Let's hope that the Province signs this bill into law so we don't have to depend on Clarington and Whitby to re-visit, re-evaluate, and re-vote and come to the logical and correct conclusion. However, in case we end up having to go under the provisions of the triple majority act, we should be prepared. Council should be prepared.
If this partially new council really wants to listen to the residents of Clarington, as they seem to want to do, then this is an issue they should bring back to the table, rather than just brushing it aside.
Please read "Electorate says yes to voting for Regional chairperson" (Metroland article) or the front page article, "Ajax seeks support for Regional Chairman motion" in the February 14th edition of The Canadian Statesman, by Jennifer Stone. Also see my previous blog entry and comments from the public.
Quite a few at the Region (the majority!) had the guts to go against Chairman Anderson's wishes and voted to endorse direct election of the Chair instead of appointing as usual.
ReplyDeleteHow did our 3 representatives at the region vote? That would be Abernethy, Trim and Novak? Does anybody know?
Let's hope that Oshawa MPP Jerry Ouellette's private member's bill calling for the direct election of Durham's regional chairperson PASSES. Everyone should write to their MPP and ask that they support this bill for Durham Region. And write to other MPPs too to solicit support. Not sure we can count on Whitby and Clarington Councils to change their minds on this. But we can hope.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what posters wrote in the "Regional Chair choice, No choice" section. And here too. Where is the fairness? Why are our reps at the Region from Clarington voting en masse against direct election of the Chair without even asking the residents of Clarington? The previous council never asked residents either, so just saying that they are following a previous council decision doesn't cut it. They made a decision for political reasons and not for what is in our best interests. I thought this new council would be different but apparently not. 4 years is too long to wait to replace some of these people once again. But we have long memories and will not forget. This includes the new Mayor too, who has followed along with the old council's decision, along with Trim and Novak. What a shame.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to transparency and accountability? What happened to "listening to the people"? Are we back to the same old, same old?
ReplyDeleteTo answer the first commenter - "courtice resident" - Mayor Abernethy, Charlie Trim and Mary Novak all voted against the Region's resolution. They voted against direct election of the Regional Chair.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they were outvoted at the region, but they got their majority at Clarington Council, didn't they? Too bad.
ReplyDeleteOur new mayor made it an election campaign issue that he would support direct election of the chair. Now that he's elected he is acting like so many other politicians and not listening to his constituents.
ReplyDeleteShame on Mr Abernethey. Either listening to bad advice or simply not listening at all or, worse off still, making a decision without consulting the public.Like that ever happened here in Clarington. Total Hockey anyone. Next thing we know is Abernethey will be endorsing Total Hockey. Glad at least 2 of our council listen to those that voted them in.
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