Hamilton City Council is under fire for the quarter-baked plan of the so-called “accountability and transparency sub-committee” that will gag any citizen who files a complaint with the integrity commissioner.
The reaction to the proposal has been swift and furious – Councillor Ferguson, the mover of the motion and chair of the “accountability and transparency sub-committee” was on 900CHML this morning. He, and Councillor Whitehead yesterday, noted that Council can cancel the integrity commissioner all together.
With Council being hammered again for a lack of transparency, one would think they’d finally fulfill their promise of a new era of accountability. You’d be wrong.
Today, City Clerks sent the following notice to the media:
Please be advised that with the Easter long weekend, Members of Council will receive the Council Agenda on Thursday afternoon this week and it will be uploaded to the City’s Website first thing Tuesday morning.
Agendas are usually posted for the public on Fridays.
The question is: Why?
It’s time for Council to stop following the lead of the so-called “accountability and transparency sub-committee” and release its agenda for the public to review well in advance of its meeting.