Editor: The recent ruling by integrity commissioner Suzanne Craig regarding the OHL secret meeting held by the mayor with his selected council members is a clinical confirmation of how transparency is being sidelined in Chatham-Kent.
The commissioner concluded no rules were broken because attendance was kept one member short of a quorum, However, the mayor’s own admission is the real story – the exclusion of over half of council was intentional. By hand-picking a favored few for a private meeting on a massive infrastructure project, the mayor created a deliberate information gap between wards.
This raises a vital question for taxpayers. Can we expect true oversight from an integrity commissioner who is paid by the very municipality, council and mayor that hired her and that she is asked to investigate? When a leader admits to navigating around the law rather than following its spirit, and is still given a pass, it reinforces the perception that the current system is designed to protect the status quo, not the public.
Transparency is not a hurdle to be cleared by counting heads at the door or relying on technicalities, it’s the foundation of accountable government. When certain councillors are left in the dark, during an election year, their constituents are effectively silenced.
As we head towards October, voters must decide, do we want leadership that hunts for loopholes or leadership that respects the right of every citizen to be represented equally at the table?
John Cryderman
Chatham
