In light of recent events on the local political scene – Kincardine, need I say more? – TVO had a very timely episode of The Agenda with Steve Paikin entitled, “Ontario’s Municipal Politicians Behaving Badly?” which coincidentally aired on April 4.
The episode, which can be viewed on TVO’s website, featured Paikin interviewing CBC Ottawa correspondent Joanne Chianello; David Arbuckle, executive director of the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario; and John Mascarin, partner at Aird & Berlis, who specializes in municipal law.
Among the subjects discussed by the panel was whether or not the behaviour of local politicians is worse now than it has been in the past.
“It appears worse because… it’s magnified now because you have to have codes of conduct in every municipality,” said Mascarin.
“I think council members have always been behaving badly throughout the years and it is more recently that a spotlight’s been focused – primarily through the accountability and transparency mechanisms put in place by the Municipal Act. So I believe you’ve seen really atrocious behaviour now brought to the spotlight when it didn’t used to be before.”
Paikin also mentioned the fact that across Ontario, media outlets are closing every year, especially in smaller communities. He asked the panel if the lack of people covering councils is having any influence on this perceived increase in bad behaviour “because there is no one there to report on it.”
Chianello responded with, “I can’t argue the cause and effect… it is certainly true that fewer people are covering council.”
She also shared a story about how during the 2014 election, a resident of a small town east of Ottawa reached out to her, asking if she could look into why the mayor of their town was suing his council. Nobody knew what was happening locally because they had no local media covering council.
Chianello did one story, saying, “This is something that should have taken months and months of coverage.”
I shared this video with the reporters in our newsroom, one of whom asked me what my thoughts are on this apparent increasingly bad behaviour from local politicians.
Honestly, I don’t think this behaviour is anything new. Rather, I think it’s a combination of changes to the Municipal Act, decreased media coverage and Zoom that have led to recent behaviours.
Journalists like myself have heard countless tales, both from local residents and former politicians, about the conversations that would take place “in the back room” at a council meeting in the past. Before changes were made to the Municipal Act in 2016, it was easier for council to move to closed session of “in camera” when they wanted to talk about something they didn’t want the media or public to hear.
In the 1980s and 1990s, it was much easier to go “into the back room” for a chat than it is today.
Based on the stories I’ve been told, things would get heated between council members, they’d make a decision, then come out into open council and act civilized.
Back then, a reporter from the local paper would be at every meeting, who would also share their coverage with larger papers like the Kitchener-Waterloo Record or the Toronto Star.
Today, some of these heated conversations that would have taken place behind closed doors in the past are now held during open council. Why? Because the changes to the Municipal Act clearly define when council can go into closed session.
And in the past two years, Zoom has been the method of choice for many local councils to conduct business due to COVID-19. As anyone who has spent any time online will know, it is a lot easier to say and do things behind the safety of your iPad or laptop screen than it is in person.
That includes dropping some foul language directed at a colleague, or calling a colleague out on their track record with a certain portfolio.
Do I honestly think that the behaviour has gotten worse amongst local politicians? No, I don’t. I think, at least locally, we are in a time where some members of council have seen the world pass them by. It isn’t “the old boys club” anymore, no longer a time where this group can say and do what they want as the leaders of town. And it isn’t sitting well with some, in my opinion.
Thankfully, we live in a region of Ontario where local media, specifically newspapers, cover our local councils extensively. Without the coverage we provide each week within our pages, who knows where some of the hot topic issues would be, or how much the public would know about them?
It’s a scary thought, and thankfully one we don’t have to think about.
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Mike Wilson is the editor of Midwestern Newspapers. Comments and feedback are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
