posting
04-10-2007, 09:56 PM
Is this a realistic expectation of civic politicians?
-- Kingston Electors
Civic watchdog wants new rules for ambitious politicians
CBC April 9, 2007
[/URL] city hall watchdog group in Ottawa wants to establish a code of ethics to discourage municipal politicians from fleeing their seats for higher office before their terms are up.
Eye on Ottawa (http://www.cbc.ca/news/credit.html), a group of defeated municipal candidates, argues the exodus of municipal politicians seeking higher office before the end of their term is a wasteful expense and disrespects voters who go to the polls to give councillors a four-year mandate.
"For that person to actually come out six months or a year or two into their term and say, 'Listen, I've changed my mind. I don't think I'm going to deliver on that commitment I said I would give to you," there's a little bit of a lack of ethics," said Luc Lapointe, Eye on Ottawa's interim chairman.
City councillors Michel Bellemare and Diane Deans are held up as examples of the exodus.
In November 2006 they were sworn in as part of a new crop of councillors following Ottawa's municipal election. Bellemare has since announced he plans to seek a federal Liberal nomination in the next election, while Deans is the subject of rumours that she'll seek a Liberal seat in Ontario's October election.
The watchdog group is hoping to draft an ethics code that would set a protocol for councillors who want to leave mid-term.
[URL="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/04/09/ot-eyeonottawa20070409.html#skip300x250"]
Eye on Ottawa's intention is well-founded but misguided, according to a political scientist at the University of Ottawa.
"People can step down for a number of reasons, and I think it would be very difficult to have a binding kind of legislation or municipal ruling that prevented people from leaving office in the middle of their term," said Caroline Andrew.
"The real problem is people's perception that municipal politics is only a mild stepping stone to better things," Andrew said. "Particularly in the big cities, it seems to me that municipal politics is addressing some of the crucial questions."
-- Kingston Electors
Civic watchdog wants new rules for ambitious politicians
CBC April 9, 2007
[/URL] city hall watchdog group in Ottawa wants to establish a code of ethics to discourage municipal politicians from fleeing their seats for higher office before their terms are up.
Eye on Ottawa (http://www.cbc.ca/news/credit.html), a group of defeated municipal candidates, argues the exodus of municipal politicians seeking higher office before the end of their term is a wasteful expense and disrespects voters who go to the polls to give councillors a four-year mandate.
"For that person to actually come out six months or a year or two into their term and say, 'Listen, I've changed my mind. I don't think I'm going to deliver on that commitment I said I would give to you," there's a little bit of a lack of ethics," said Luc Lapointe, Eye on Ottawa's interim chairman.
City councillors Michel Bellemare and Diane Deans are held up as examples of the exodus.
In November 2006 they were sworn in as part of a new crop of councillors following Ottawa's municipal election. Bellemare has since announced he plans to seek a federal Liberal nomination in the next election, while Deans is the subject of rumours that she'll seek a Liberal seat in Ontario's October election.
The watchdog group is hoping to draft an ethics code that would set a protocol for councillors who want to leave mid-term.
[URL="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/04/09/ot-eyeonottawa20070409.html#skip300x250"]
Eye on Ottawa's intention is well-founded but misguided, according to a political scientist at the University of Ottawa.
"People can step down for a number of reasons, and I think it would be very difficult to have a binding kind of legislation or municipal ruling that prevented people from leaving office in the middle of their term," said Caroline Andrew.
"The real problem is people's perception that municipal politics is only a mild stepping stone to better things," Andrew said. "Particularly in the big cities, it seems to me that municipal politics is addressing some of the crucial questions."