Mayor’s powers go way too far

They are viewing today as an historic day at Toronto city hall — the day Toronto council takes a decided step toward giving the mayor unprecedented new powers.

Years hence, Dec. 7, 2005, may be seen as the moment city council became an irrelevant sounding board, left to rubber stamp the whims of a mayor and a group of allies he hires, fires and controls with patronage.

It doesn’t have to be that way and there is time to change the ruinous path council is rushing toward if citizens rise up and demand a few strategic changes before final approval in May.

Here’s what Mayor David Miller is pushing city council to do:

Allow the mayor to hand pick and fire the chairs of all council committees and the chairs of community councils ( the elected bodies that hear local planning applications).

The above appointees and mayor would form an executive committee, and get an extra stipend.

I believe in giving the mayor of Toronto more powers. He should be able to appoint an executive, deputy mayor, and chairs of all standing committees. That way, he or she would have the heft and legislative authority to deliver on a platform. More importantly, the mayor will find it more difficult to dodge accountability for failure. The current system doesn’t work any more. The new city government is in no way similar to the pre- amalgamation cities. The responsibilities are much bigger and the task of governing more onerous. As such, former mayor David Crombie’s attacks on the new powers, in general, are off base. But Crombie and others are right to fret about crowning the mayor with unchecked powers. It’s here that the recommendations go too far and show contempt for council.

There is no need to let the mayor appoint the chairs of community councils. To do so is overkill. In fact, the chairs of community councils should be guaranteed a seat on the executive committee, not subject to the mayor’s patronage. Even with such an accommodation, the mayor would still control the majority vote on the executive committee, but with a built- in check and balance to the mayor’s powers. To proceed with the proposal, stacked in favour of the mayor, is to usher in some form of party politics, as Crombie and others have said. Councillors wishing to oppose the mayor would be forced into a partisan system

stainless steel tables are neatly arranged in the primary room. Sinks are found behind them. The autopsy tools are neatly arranged on stainless shelves tucked to the side. There are no flatpanel computer screens here.

“ We need more space to be able to allow us to do multiple cases. Especially when we have multiple fatalities. We need proper air flow in the larger room and dedicated rooms for the high- risk cases that includes not only the autopsy suite but the room before you get in,” McLellan said. Body storage is also an issue. As is the need for improved electrical services in order to safely deal with the cases and “ ensure that all of the fluids and tissues are handled so it’s safe for everyone involved,” he said.

Back- up power systems are needed and a refrigeration system that doesn’t break down, he added. “ This building is maxed out,” he said, referring to its electrical capacity. The system in the building couldn’t handle technology improvements.

Walker said it’s time to “ modernize” the coroner’s office so it can swiftly respond to things like an unidentified infectious disease outbreak or even a terrorist attack involving a biohazard.

“ In the past, it’s fair to say we’ve always trusted the role of the coroner, in a slow and deliberate way, to answer questions,” he said. But in September’s legionnaires’ outbreak, swift diagnosis was vital. The illness was considered a mystery until the coroner’s office detected the presence of legionnaires’ through autopsy. Testing at the province’s public lab failed to identify the pathogen responsible for what was sickening people residing in, working at and living near a Scarborough nursing home.

Walker’s report also suggested the public lab get a major overhaul. The Ontario Public Health Laboratory in north Etobicoke, after previous years of cutbacks, was ill- equipped to handle the legionnaires’ outbreak that killed 23 residents of the Seven Oaks Home for the Aged in Scarborough.

Yet it was supposed to be an expert in legionnaires’, Walker said.