Law vs Justice, Power vs Authority

It’s Easter weekend, so I’m taking a break from the usual “how does this process work” focus of this blog to indulge in a more philosophical post. I’ll try to keep it from being too much of a sermon. There are four concepts, or two pairs of concepts, that are foundational to governments of everyContinue reading “Law vs Justice, Power vs Authority”

Integrity on Council, part 3

In the last post I went through the first ten rules of the Council Code of Conduct to try to lay them out in layman’s terms. They’re pretty straightforward, so these posts are more about summarizing them. You can read the full Code of Conduct here. Now let’s pick up at rule 11. 11. RespectContinue reading “Integrity on Council, part 3”

Integrity on Council, part 2

The Council Code of Conduct is a thorough set of guidelines that, if followed, should more than keep us out of trouble; it should keep us respectful, united, and productive. (For more info on what happens if we step out of line, see part 1 on the Integrity Commissioner.) The Code of Conduct The CouncilContinue reading “Integrity on Council, part 2”

Integrity on Council, part 1

Political scandals are so common now that we’ve come to expect them of our elected officials. While federal and provincial political scandals are often personal (allegations of sexual misconduct, prejudicial comments, or other questionable behaviour), municipal scandals tend to be a bit more technical and procedural, usually oriented around a real or perceived conflict ofContinue reading “Integrity on Council, part 1”