City of Kawartha Lakes
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City staff advise what to "support" Human nature being what it is, more power is seen as better than less power. This is true of bureaucracies. In theory, our municipal council sets policy and the bureaucrats carry out the policy. We have seen in the past that, where a bureaucracy can borrow a little bit of policy-making authority from the elected officials, they won't hesitate to do so. The politicians have an obligation to protect their policy-making turf. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Often, the encroachment by the bureaucrats is barely perceptible. It is usually done under the guise of being helpful to busy, overworked politicians. However it is done, it is dangerous and our elected councillors should be on guard against it. A case in point: on a recent printed council agenda were two letters which had been sent to the CoKL council seeking support for a couple of different causes. Whether or not our council chooses to support the causes isn't particularly relevant. What is important is that support or rejection of a cause is policy; the exclusive turf of an elected council. In each of these two cases, the staff report advised Council to not only "receive" the letter (which is OK) but also to "support" the cause (which isn't). It's a small point to be sure, but the slow steady erosion of a duly elected council's authority can begin by not reacting strongly when the bureaucrats step out of line. Whatever else we might say about our municipal council, they are all that stands between the people and government by unelected bureaucrats. Reprinted from The Red Rock Eye Opener |