Presenting Your Concerns to Government

In frustration someone took a commenter to task by asking if the commenter had ever made their feelings known directly to their respective government.

Interesting question!

If someone has something to say about their government then why wouldn’t they make their feelings and concerns known directly to their government?

● At the time I didn’t really take the question very serious. I had made my concerns known to city officials several times with a modicum of success. On three occasions I even went before city council. I discovered that if you broach a subject that does not please them they usually listen politely and not ask any questions or offer follow-up. I surmise that they are content to quickly get you out of the view of the publicly televised cameras.

● I also took my concerns to our Niagara Regional Council on matters concerning such things as illegal dumping of garbage along with over two thousand pictures ranging from household waste to toxic pollution. The councilors reacted only to the pictures of piles of garbage and toxic pollutants behind the new hospital.

● On August 22, 2012 we followed the advice Niagara’s ‘Watersmart’ program by reporting a serious toxic pollution the wording of which has now been changed: http://www.regional.niagara.on.ca/search/default.aspx?TextBox1=watersmart

The details of our unsuccessful attempt to find anyone at the Region who might be interested enough to reply without serious prompting can be followed here:  http://newsalertniagara.blogspot.ca/2012/11/watersmart-niagara-how-does-that-work.html

●You might well ask why I’ve changed, why I have developed a new opinion about the concept of presenting one’s concerns to government. I suppose the change manifested itself following my last attempt to make my feelings and concerns known to the Niagara Regional Government.

 It seems that the change had its origin following my presentation made at the November 28, 2012 Integrated Community Planning Committee meeting in reference to the expense and futility of hiring another bureaucrat as an Integrity Commissioner.

I found that the most egregious aspect of my efforts was the subsequent attempt to try to prevent my presentation from ever seeing the light of day through the labeling of my presentation by Regional Councilor Dave Augustyn and Mayor of Pelham as ‘so full of errors’ that it should not be accepted into the record. When the Regional authorities discovered that the presentation was not going to be covered up they even gave their councilors misinformation and excuses, which can be viewed in the full stories at: http://www.niagarawinnerscircle.com/Niagara-Region-MEMORANDUM.html

And

 http://www.niagarawinnerscircle.com/Presentation-to-Regional-Council.html

Following the clerk’s claim the Ontario Ombudsman gave the region a clean bill of health I naturally emailed the Ombudsman’s office to which I received the following clarification.

Date: 2012-09-12

The Ombudsman found ‘that the Regional Municipality of Niagara's notice practice for advisory committee meetings did not comply with its Procedure By-Law in that agendas were not posted on the website prior to meetings.  Although the complaint that improper voting within Committee meetings was not proven, the Ombudsman found that the Corporate Services Committee and Council could have been more transparent in their decision making, and in terms of reporting back publicly on what transpired in the closed meetings.’

So much for the clerk’s claim that it proves the region is open and transparent.

In the end the Niagara Regional Government succeeded in preventing my presentation from being received into the public record thus depriving the public the ability to assess their caliber and character.

Upon a recorded vote being requested on the Presenting Concerns to Government motion regarding receiving Mr. Haskell’s presentation respecting the Integrity Commissioner, the members were divided as follows on the motion: Voting For the Motion: Councillor Barrick Councillor Hodgson Councillor Jeffs Councillor Joyner Councillor Lepp Councillor Maves Councillor Petrowski Councillor Timms (8) Voting Against the Motion: RegionalChairBurroughs Councillor Augustyn Councillor Badawey Councillor Baty Councillor Greenwood Councillor Luciani Councillor McMullan Councillor Marshall Councillor Rigby Councillor Volpatti (10)