Three Is Now Four

The McGuinty Government passed legislation late Wednesday night that will see mayors, councillors and school board trustees serve a four-year term versus a three-year term.

On Wednesday afternoon North Bay City Councillor, Mike Anthony released a statement opposing the move saying a three-year term was enough.

Anthony released a second statement voicing his disappointment on the new legislation changing the rules for municipal elections.

“I honestly believed the decision would not be made till Thursday or Friday, I thought we might have a chance to get more momentum on opposing this...unfortunately, I hear it was passed at Queen's Park Wednesday night.”

Full details in the release below.

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I am extremely disappointed with the province changing council terms in Ontario cities from three years to four years. I truly believe it means the public has lost a layer of accountability. The municipal level is the one closest to the people, setting the tax rates, setting municipal priorities and handling their local concerns. Because of this closeness, I firmly believe a deeper level of scrutiny & accountability was appropriate and three-year terms were adequate.

I am also disappointed in how this was "pushed" through...I think perhaps it should have been a question attached to this fall's municipal vote, giving the public a chance to have real input.

And finally, I DO NOT believe the provincial government's claim that this is out of respect for municipal councils. Instead, I think it is an attempt to buy off the hundreds of councillors in the "vote rich" Southern Ontario regions, giving them an extra year's paycheque to get along with the current party in power. I hope it is not successful, as accountability to the municipal taxpayer is at the heart of this matter.

I still encourage people to log onto www.threeyears.ca, the website opposing the four-year move and logging their concerns (if it is still operating). As we have seen the current government has broken pledges & changed direction previously. Maybe we can get them to see re-think this decision as well.
Three years was enough, and accountability has been lost. Cost savings over a twenty-year period are far outweighed by the public's lost opportunity to review municipal performance every three years.

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