Transparency & Democracy In Action

Your $4.5 million at work
By 5 p.m. yesterday under its new 'streamlined' rules, city council had passed just one item
By SUE-ANN LEVY

Midway through yesterday's first meeting of the new city council -- and a particularly raucous morning -- Coun. Mike Del Grande concluded that the Millerites want not just to be in control but to have "absolute control.

"We might as well sit in the gallery with our mouths taped shut," he said.

Indeed, Del Grande and his colleagues on the right -- or for that matter any opposition to Mayor David Miller and his ruling socialist seals -- seem to have good reason to be concerned with council's new rules.

Despite the $4.5 million spent by the City Clerk's office to develop new meeting rules that are supposed to streamline decision-making, the proceedings were anything but that yesterday.

In fact, by 5 p.m., the new improved council had approved one lone item -- the appointment of Richard Butts to deputy city manager at an annual salary between $207,432 and $238,548.

The rest of the time, they bobbed and weaved from item to item as in council meetings of years gone by.

Despite the contentions of new speaker Sandra Bussin that she intends to be "as fair as possible," councillors like Del Grande and Denzil Minnan Wong say they observed nothing to that effect.

Del Grande said Bussin would not permit them to get up on a point of order or personal privilege, unless they first ran up to her like kindergarten kids to ask her permission privately. Even the motions he put on the order paper now have to be run by city staff, who make suggestions to do it their way, he said.

Minnan-Wong said the order paper was only provided to council at 9 a.m. yesterday. "We were kept completely in the dark until the last minute ... so they can control the agenda and suppress debate," he said.

He ran into trouble with "Madame Speaker" when he tried to question the order paper items deemed time-sensitive and confidential.

It got so heated that at 12 noon Bussin, who looked teary-eyed, was forced to call a recess to confer with the Clerk.

At 12:05 she declared that Minnan-Wong had not taken the opportunity to amend the order paper so he was out of luck.

When the councillor pleaded for some indulgence, given that it was the first meeting with the new procedural rules, Bussin repeated more than once: "I have ruled on this ... we're beyond that point." She even goaded the councillor into challenginig her ruling, knowing full well she had enough trained seals to support her (the vote was 27-13 in her favour).

Subsequent efforts by Minnan-Wong and Coun. David Shiner to question the proceedings were met with catcalls from the seals and a reprimand from Miller himself.

"You are repeating yourself over and over again ... move on," Coun. Kyle Rae said to Minnan-Wong.

ORDER PAPER PASSED

"Over and over," echoed Coun. Pam McConnell, instructing her colleagues to "vote" on the order paper as presented.

Not surprisingly the order paper passed 27-12.

"This is ridiculous ... it's really an embarrassment to the citizens of the city of Toronto," said Shiner. "We're in chaos here."

Minnan-Wong said he wasn't surprised with the catcalls. "They're high on their own power," he said in reference to Miller's minions.

As for Bussin, he's convinced she got her marching orders from the mayor to restrict debate and push things through. "It's arbitrary and iron-fisted ... it's dictatorial," he complained.

After the first day of the so-called new, improved council, Del Grande was already disheartened.

"This is what I feared about a strong mayor system," he said.

"I was not elected to be a seal or to sit and watch the action go by."