Silly Little Country

The bar for these guys is already set pretty low.

Lower it further.
Rarely does a week or two pass without some new wondrous idea out of Toronto Council. Matt Gurney provides a very nice commentary on the latest (unless there is something new on tonight's newscast):

The city’s executive committee has decided Toronto city councillors should be able to use public funds to sue for libel. Note the phrasing: The motion doesn’t provide the right to use tax dollars to defend themselves from nuisance lawsuits while conducting city business -- they can already do that -- but instead allows them to launch lawsuits against anyone they feel libeled them. In other words, individual council members could use taxpayer dollars to sue the taxpayers.

The real tragedy is that this is no problem in the city. If a ruling of libel is found, costs can be included in penalty so there is no reason for Miller and his cronies to be reaching into my pocket. Whereas, regarding the real problems:

Toronto’s government needs a major overhaul before the city completely falls apart at the seams. Infrastructure needs building, business needs development, crime needs fighting. These are the issues that determine quality of life and the attractiveness of a city. Does anyone believe that giving council members a bottomless pit of money with which to sue their opponents will help? Does a situation ever improve when you add lawyers?

posted by Alan Adamson @ 6:39 PM