Not To Demean George Thompson But

When we look at the commissions/fact gathering committees, or what ever you call them, that he has chaired over the years you have to ask has anything drastic taken place; ie: is the welfare system any better, do we have more foreign professionals working in their fields and chretien is still a free man. Now we have another fact gathering group looking at electoral reform. This will probably see less traffic on the blogs and malls but the end result will probably the one quoted about BCs efforts; "Will Ontario end up, as British Columbia did two years ago, with a blueprint for reform that the electorate does not understand and isn't prepared to endorse?"

Quest to make every vote count

Carol Goar
Toronto Star

A cynic might describe George Thomson as a sucker for thankless causes. An optimist would call him an inveterate believer in the intelligence, decency and fair-mindedness of Ontarians.

Either way, the amiable family court judge has fought some uphill battles in his 40-year career.

In the late 1980s, he led a two-year review of Ontario's welfare system, which recommended far-reaching improvements in the way the province treats its poorest citizens. Almost none of his proposals was implemented.

In the mid '90s, as deputy justice minister in Ottawa, he had the unenviable task of extricating Jean Chrétien's government from its ill-advised vendetta against Brian Mulroney. On his watch, the Airbus affair ended as civilly as possible: with an apology to the former prime minister and a $2 million out-of-court settlement.

In 2004, Thomson was asked by the Ontario government to find a way to break down the barriers preventing foreign-trained professionals from getting work in their field. He came up with a comprehensive plan. A few of his ideas found their way into Immigration Minister Mike Colle's Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act.

Now, Thomson is chair of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, which will advise the government on whether to jettison Ontario's 215-year-old voting system in favour of a new model. Its report is due on May 15.

Fiberal folly......

Citizen input......