There have been a few election surprises this past week, at least one of them locally and the other nationally.
In Muskoka, John Klinck has announced that he would not seek re-election as Chair of the District Municipality of Muskoka. I wasn’t expecting that. In fact, rumors that were circulating suggested that he would seek another term.
And who could blame him if he did? It has to be one of the cushiest jobs in municipal politics. All an incumbent chair in Muskoka has to do is keep 11 of his District councillors happy and they are a shoo-in for as long as they want to be with an annual salary north of a hundred grand plus perks. John Kink was very good at that.
However, after 12 years as Chair of Muskoka and a total of 22 years in municipal politics, Mr. Klinck has decided it is time to hang up his hat. We can only wish him well.
Hopefully, this election in the fall for a new District of Muskoka Chair will be the last one where the winner will be elected only by members of District council. It is time for that position to be elected at large across Muskoka. It almost happened four years ago until newly minted Premier Doug Ford cancelled elections at large in a few regional government races, primarily, in my view, because he wanted to stick it to his then nemesis, Patrick Brown, who was running to become Chair of Peel Region.
But Doug Ford has mellowed since then and he has grown into his responsibilities as Premier. He also pictures himself as a man of the people and surely, he would now agree that it is the people who should choose the highest-paid municipal politician in Muskoka. On top of that our member of the Ontario Provincial Legislature, Graydon Smith, clearly has the ear of the Premier, and that too should make a difference.
Over the years, District government has grown by leaps and bounds, taking an ever-increasing portion of municipal tax revenue, with little oversight or direct accountability. District councillors are also elected to their area councils. At best, they have split responsibilities and loyalties, and most would admit that their major areas of accountability are at the local level. Indeed, it is my belief that every mayor in Muskoka receives, and must deal with, more ratepayer complaints about District responsibilities such as sewer, roads, health care issues, and so on, than does the District chair.
The only way to get real accountability for what happens at the District (regional) level of municipal politics in Muskoka is for the chair to be elected at large. Quite likely, with an election taking place in the fall, it cannot happen this time around. It can only be hoped that the next District chair, will smell the roses, and campaign for direct election in 2026.
The other election surprise this week was the expulsion of Patrick Brown as a candidate in the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. It has been a tough road for Mr. Brown which brings to mind the old adage of three strikes and you’re out! First, in 2018, he is tossed out of the Provincial Progressive Conservative leadership race. Then he is shut out of a race for Peel Chair having to settle for a consolation prize as Mayor of Brampton and now he is shuffled out of his candidacy for the leadership of the federal Tories.
I am no fan of Patrick Brown and never have been. I would not want to see him as leader of the Conservative Party and had he been left in the race I do not believe he would have won. But one does not have to like someone to believe that they should be treated fairly, and at this point in time, it is hard to know if that is the case when it comes to Patrick Brown.
All we know to date is that there was a single allegation that a member of the Brown campaign team was being paid by a corporation, contrary to the leadership rules and the Election Finances Act. Even if that is accurate, the question remains if it rose to the level of expelling Brown from the contest, costing him and his campaign hundreds and thousands of dollars, let alone likely having a serious impact on Patrick Brown’s political career.
Since the allegations have been handed over to the Chief Election Officer of Canada, it will not only be important to see whether Brown’s campaign violated the Act, but also if the Chief Election Officer had jurisdiction, whether he would have found the infraction sufficient grounds to throw him out of the leadership race.
In my view, the Conservative backroom people should have waited for that decision before booting Patrick Brown out. They should also have been much more transparent about their process and their specific findings. Without that, it appears they were just waiting for something to pounce on.
More importantly, this decision and the timing of it has significantly changed the dynamics of the leadership race. Some believe it will put Pierre Poilievre over the top. Others think that Brown’s expulsion will help Jean Charest or Scott Aitchison. Either way, it changes things, and given the lack of transparency, one has to wonder if those backroom folks had an agenda.
For certain, however, all of this does not help the image of the Conservative Party of Canada; a change of horses right in the middle of the race, ballots for a September 10th election out, way too early with Brown’s name still on them and all of this on top of a divided Party steeped in acrimony.
It would be nice to think that some of the remaining candidates, perhaps Jean Charest and Scott Aitchison, can still turn this around, but time is running short to do that, especially with people already voting.
What a gift to the Trudeau Government.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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To comment on Hugh Holland’s remarks in the thread:
The Toronto Sun is certainly not owned by Rupert Murdoch. It is owned by Post Media which is a Canadian Corporation .
The very talented and entertaining Conrad Black started the Post and several other excellent newspapers. If it were not for the Post the Canadian printed news landscape would be a barren place.
A further comment is that I find the negative submissions filled with invective from some contributors to the Doppler disappointing. Say what you have on your mind and keep the personal, critical remarks to your selves. Such personal remarks say more about the author than the subject.
Keep up the good work Hugh.
Jim Boyes
The road I live on is a good example of over-governance and under-serviced. The road is a district road, so it is maintained by district. The two roads that branch off are town roads. The town plows their road, the district plows their road too. But that little space of intersection is left snow covered. That’s in the winter. Now, that little space is a gravelly mess. No man’s land between the two systems. I can’t imagine all of the other “no man’s land” spaces. We need either town government or district. Not both.
Thank you for correcting me Mr Mackenzie.
There are less than 80 thousand full time residents in Muskoka. We are over governed and drastically under serviced. This situation has not improved since we moved back to Huntsville in 1991. Correct me if I’m wrong. The cost of Government in Muskoka has a direct correlation to the services we receive in the area. Or could it be that the province does not provide adequate funding. How many levels of government does it take to come up with and adequate funding formula for our neglected Health and Homecare services?
In the interest of accuracy Jim, it was not the Miller government that brought Regional (District) government to Muskoka, it was Darcy McKeough and the Davis government.
Accountability from our elected officials? In Muskoka we are forced to support Four levels of government. Sadly despite this we have very limited health and home care services in the area and the influx of newcomers is making things worse. Could it be that our political structure is so expensive to maintain that we can not provide the level of services needed in the area . The fact that you can’t even get and MRI in the region is the only proof you need. Muskoka has more politicians than Carter’s has liver pills. The late Frank Millers conservative government left us to fund this overpriced model when the province created the District of Muskoka. Sudbury and Barrie eliminated local municipalities when they restructured. Ironically both of these regions provide better services to their constituents than our entire region receives. Mr Ford Muskoka needs restructuring urgently as you well know. Muskoka was ignored completely by the provincial Liberals during their brutal unbalanced mismanagement of the province .
So we have to pay more to receive less than our neighbours to the north and south. Why? People in the area are forced to travel for medical procedures and tests simply due to the fact that our funding model is not adequate.. This is happening despite the fact that Muskoka has two hospitals. And we don’t seem to have the political will or leadership necessary to rectify this albatross hanging off the necks of the Muskoka residents.
Is this the type of accountability Mr Mackenzie is alluding to in the article?
Jim Logagianes
Lesly Paplinsky says, “Basically if the media likes a conservative candidate, they aren’t a conservative.”
Except of course if “the media” is the National Post started by the egotistical Lord Conrad Black who gave up his Canadian Citizenship for a British title and spent years in a US jail on fraud charges, or if “the media” is the Toronto Sun owned by non other than Rupert Murdock who owns half the tabloids in the world including FOX News which has been Trump’s PR department for several years.
Poilievre says he is the only real conservative in the race. Black and Murdock are both far right libertarians who care about only one thing: money. They would both be Fascist dictators if they could get away with it. They latch onto populist politicians like Trump and Poilievre who surround themselves with people who won’t challenge them, and tell people exactly what they want to hear, that all their problems are caused by somebody else. The victims of populist politicians like to hear that message over and over and that brings in massive advertising dollars to charlatans like Black and Murdock. They like Poilievre.
The problem is that today’s national and international problems are just too big and too complex to be solved by traditional conservative doctrine (small government and lower taxes) and half-baked populist solutions from the likes of Trump and Poilievre (e.g. buy unregulated crypto currency, fire the Bank of Canada, no gun laws, etc.) Poilievre may win the conservative leadership with votes from old less-educated white men who like simplistic solutions that don’t work. But the much bigger group of smart, more-educated young men and women that want real solutions will vote center left because Poilievre killed the center right. But like Trump, Poilievre will not leave as quietly as Scheer and O’Toole. He is not a diplomat. Like Trump, he has a mean streak and fights like a badger. That should be a concern to all of us.
“It can only be hoped that the next District chair, will smell the roses, and campaign for direct election in 2026”. Why the heck would they do that when: “It has to be one of the cushiest jobs in municipal politics…for as long as they want to be with an annual salary north of a hundred grand plus perks”
Smell the what? Why is there a District chair anyway?
Good points here from Bob Braan, with references
Of course one more political surprise this week has been the rapid evaporation of Conservative leader Boris Johnson in Britain.
Unlike their Canadian counterpart,
British Conservatives occupy a majority in Parliament and will have chosen a brand new leader (and therefore Prime Minister) well before the hapless CPC manages to find another leader for the official opposition benches in Ottawa.
It’s definitely difficult to imagine a less competent bunch than the CPC (a divided party steeped in acrimony, as Mr. Mackenzie acknowledges) especially when you consider they are seeking their third brand new leader in six years and have been basically without permanent leadership for more than half that time. And they are now taking well beyond half a year to make that leadership choice. And that choice will not be made by the current elected representatives in the Conservative caucus but instead by the sad, silly and dog-eared process of dubious membership expansion drives among the contenders.
The Globe’s Andrew Coyne on the topic recently: “The sudden expansion in membership rolls that attends every leadership race is simply a statement of how the party’s existing members … have been shoved aside, displaced by people with no history of involvement with or commitment to the party, most of whom will have no further association with it beyond the time it takes to cast their ballot…The leader who surfs in on this wave is, from that day forward, accountable to exactly no one. Certainly, he is not accountable to the party’s MPs, the people it is his job at most times to lead: Though they are obliged to obey his every command, they have no say in choosing him. Indeed, party caucuses in Canada are regularly saddled with leaders they cannot abide and would not have chosen if it were left to them.”
Surfing leaders aside, the Conservative Party in recent iterations has been substantially more of a gift than an effective opposition to ruling Liberals, and that appears unlikely to change whenever the dust settles on the current leadership contest.
So glad there are no serious issues or concerns requiring urgent attention at the moment as we watch yet another pathetic political horserace.
“The only way to get real accountability for what happens at the District (regional) level of municipal politics in Muskoka is for the chair to be elected at large.”
Nope.
There is no accountability at all at the District.
They can get away with anything.
And they all know it.
The massive problem with the municipal level of government is there is no official opposition to scrutinize and expose any shady goings on.
Unlike at the provincial and federal level.
Local press doesn’t investigate, just parrot their ridiculous decisions.
Unlike at the provincial and federal level.
I agree the chair “has to be one of the cushiest jobs in municipal politics. All an incumbent chair in Muskoka has to do is keep 11 of his District councillors happy and they are a shoo-in for as long as they want to be with an annual salary north of a hundred grand plus perks.”
No kidding.
Massive cost to Muskoka taxpayers.
Zero value added.
At least Klinck is retiring.
Good riddance.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/district-chair-john-klinck-to-retire/
Hopefully his replacement takes much better care of Muskoka.
Don’t count on it.
Developers really run Muskoka not the District.
Councillors just blindly approve whatever developers want to do at the expense of everyone else.
Developers know the District/towns/townships will amend zoning and planning rules to suit whatever they want, not the other way around.
Build anything, anywhere.
Starting with wiping out trees and leaving the area barren for years.
Toronto protects their trees much better than Muskoka.
The only time councillors sit up and pay attention is when raising their salaries 27%!! is on the table.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/district-council-defeats-attempt-to-reduce-proposed-increase-to-councillor-pay/
Talk about a cushy job with perks.
Why does the District exist again?
Muskoka used to be just towns and townships with far less ability to borrow and waste massive amounts of money.
Then charge residents for their rampant spending.
$620 million!!! on water and sewer for example.
Believe it or not.
For only 10,000 connections or so.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/municipal-water-and-sewer-rates-on-the-rise/
Baysville water and sewer plants were supposed to be $5 million and cost residents $50/month.
Actual cost was $20 million and residents pay $200/month or $2,400/year.
Highest in Ontario.
$900 of that is shown/hidden on property taxes.
No other municipality does that.
There is no affordable housing on District services with costs like that.
Luckily for councillors many of them live on the lakes and don’t pay for exorbitant District services.
They couldn’t care less about costs for residents.
Now the District is blowing up to $65 million more in Huntsville.
Don’t be surprised that balloons to over $100 million.
They will just shrug and massively increase services cost.
Again.
Hugh, is well past his prime when it comes to political saavy. Anyone pushing laurentian establishment canadiates like Charest at this point in the game is a total dinosaur. Completely out of touch.
The party has already snatched defeat from the jaws of victory twice in a row, against a hated, scandal plagued Trudeau government. Chasing the middle of the road, woke, Red Tory votes again would be a premeditated attempt at political suicide.
Scott A is a low energy, cheque collecting, Lefty grifter with zero chances, and Charest is a corrupt Lib. The two represent the absolute worst that the party has to offer.
Baisically if the media likes a Conservative candidate, they aren’t a conservative.