New levels of accountability
Councillors here may have a few more things to discuss as provincial direction regarding municipal government accountability comes into play.
On March 10, Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj noted there was a lot of attention on Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s recent announcement on municipal accountability.
Ross-Zuj said new levels of accountability will be placed on all municipalities “if (Wynne) gets her way.
Ross-Zuj anticipated quite a bit of discussion to come up at the council table as to how exactly the municipality will approach this.
“I think we can be very proud of our budget process and the transparency of all our accounting procedures.”
She added that as Centre Wellington’s website is rebuilt, it will provide even more opportunities to communicate information to the public.
“It’s something we’re going to have to work through as a council. The sweeping accountability measures would make politicians’ expense records public, limit public-sector executive salaries and increase independent oversight of hospitals, nursing homes, municipalities and school boards.
In Wellington County, Puslinch Township had already started posting council expenses online.
