If there was any doubt about why developers and other corporate interests always seem to get their way at Pickering City Council, the front page of today's Toronto Star tells it all:
Pickering tops the list of GTA municipalities in campaign contributions from developers and other corporate interests
A whopping 76.7 per cent of campaign contributions in Pickering comes from corporations! That compares to 50.0 percent in Whitby and only 22.4 percent in Ajax where Mayor Steve Parish refuses to accept donations from developers. Ten GTA municipalities were covered in the study by Robert MacDermid, a political scientist at York University.
Heavy reliance on developers and other companies erodes democracy, Professor MacDermid fears.
In Pickering, we have all heard Councillor Doug Dickerson defend the practice by saying that he cannot possibly be influenced by a $750 donation (the maximum one company can donate to a candidate) from a developer. Who is Councillor Dickerson trying to kid?
If a bunch of us in Bay Ridges donated $750 each to the councillor's campaign coffers, would we be continue to be ignored? We don't think so. Would SR&R Bay Ridges continue to have its way at City Hall? We don't think so.
It's sad, but that's all that democracy is worth in Pickering.
It might be cheaper to toss out City Council in the next election and elect candidates who will truly represent the people.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
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