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economist suntribune politics saturday june 8 2002 avoiding conflict best policy even when declaring conflict politicians still target of accusation by kathleen griffin staff writer a municipal councillors par ents live a few houses away from a controversial parcel of land she is fighting to preserve as green space is this a conflict of inter est another councillors mother is a retired teacher collecting a pension from the ontario teachers pension fund which owns markhams markville shopping centre is it a conflict of interest for him to participate in council matters dealing with the mall developers contribute to councillor campaigns all the time when their plans of subdi vision come to council for approval are councillors who accepted money in conflict if they vote the answers are no no and no according to municipal law experts they say legislation gov erning municipal conflict of interest is difficult unfair and unworkable but its all politi cians have to rely on at the moment one of the big problems is the legislation is very much self- reporting explained municipal lawyer graham tighe of the toronto firm gardiner roberts as a consequence when you have a politician who is less than honest its easy to circumvent the system then you have those who are more than honest and the whole system bogs down unnecessarily as they declare each and every litde thing councillors must declare an interest in any matter in which they have a direct or indirect pecuniary interest according to the municipal conflict of interest act that means a coun cillor must excuse himself from any matter that could affect his financial situation or assets or those of his family in any way however a list of 1 1 excep tions can be applied including an interest in common with electors generally or if the inter est is so remote or insignificant it cant reasonably be regarded as an influence sounds simple enough but determining whether the inter est is direct or indirect whether the issue could potentially affect staff photomike barrett markham councillor erin shapiro decided to be sate rather than sorry by declaring a conflict of interest but still has to contend with accusations a politicians family or his busi ness or any body or organiza tion to which he belongs is more difficult its also often beyond the councillors experi ence whether its measured or not big or small whichever way a councillor votes or whether his vote even influences the decision he cant participate said municipal lawyer george rust deye many councillors especially those in smaller communities cant afford constant legal advice mr tighe pointed out asking councillors to make these kinds of decisions with no resources to do it is unfair he said markham councillor jack heath agreed the onus is on the council lor even the town lawyers get anxious when we ask a question they tell us to consult our own lawyer but there are very few of us who wander around with our own lawyers it would be easier if there was some source we could go to theres nowhere near the information needed councillor heath declares an interest on any matter involving markville shopping centre because his mother a former teacher collects a pension from the fund that owns the mall under the act you are sup posed to examine potential con flict in your immediate family he said i know it is question able but i want to make sure no questions can be raised im bet ter off if i declare an interest markham ward 2 councillor erin shapero also decided to be safe rather than sorry recent letters to the editor have alleged ms shapero has a conflict of interest on the issue of the town of markham buying a portion of settlers park in thornhill because her parents live on donnamora crescent a few properties away from a 18- acre parcel threatened with development conflict accusa tions began to be heard in the community and around the town offices hard to fight rumours this stinks to me said thornhill resident david jordon i dont know erin shapero or anything about her but there is clearly a problem here she has an obligation to make the tax payers comfortable with her integrity in doing her job despite comments like these no one has challenged councillor shapero publicly and as any politician can tell you its hard to fight rumours i openly campaigned on this issue which existed before i came to council so it should come to no surprise to anyone i have continued this fight she said in a recent interview i received a legal opinion in june 2001 and it was found i did not have a conflict for two rea sons the issue is something i have in common with electors generally and secondly it wont raise significant financial gain either way my parents home is located within a subdivision and so are the homes of 1500 other people many of whom want that property saved i made sure i was on solid ground meanwhile a battle between residents and restaurant retailers looking to open on unionville main street has created a reverse conflict situation councillor joe virgilio a lawyer represents the owner of the property where a new firkin pub is scheduled to open despite resident concerns about a lack of parking and too many bars on the historical street councillor virgilios client is a longtime friend and he was forced to declare an interest removing himself from debate on the issue but that left his constituents unrepresented the problem is if you are in any sort of business in the com munity you have a greater i chance of bumping into clients around the town so do you not bother running this client is one of my best friends im godfather to his son so i got another councillor onside to represent the area in the mean time he said york regions most recent conflict case was that of former east gwillimbury mayor jim mortson who was eventually found guilty of conflict of inter est for twice voting in favour of extending hwy 404 despite the fact he stood to benefit finan cially because the preferred route would cross his farm mr rust deye was his lawyer he argued since mr mortson was the only member on regional council from east gwillimbury he felt he had to represent the towns policy in supporting the extension mr mortson kept his job because the judge felt it was an honest mistake but mr rust- deye said he paid a high price both in his daytoday opera tions and politically the extension was the biggest planning issue in east gwillimbury but any future votes would have to exclude the mayor he said in any case in the next election he was thrown out on his ear the longtime practice of politicians accepting campaign contributions from developers is often questioned by residents who believe its a clear conflict especially in highgrowth areas where new subdivisions are approved on a regular basis but in reality it is rarely chal lenged they can do it because the donation is made so long before the specific vote its difficult to connect the two in a court of law its just as hard to prove a council vote today is connected to the possibility of a donation in the future mr rustdeye said and perhaps the most glar ing flaw in the legislation is the fact electors are the ones charged with filing a conflict application that application goes directly to the courts with out the benefit of any organiza tion or government body reviewing the accusations first even a charge that eventually gets thrown out can ruin a politi cians reputation and career more importantly there arent many taxpayers who have the financial resources or the time to pursue a conflict case through the courts it places the onus on the tax payer to prosecute arid who is going to do that its certainly a lot to ask the average citizen to pony up thousands of dollars youd have to be crazy said mr tighe arkham physiothei excellence in rehabilitation since 1985 imagine playing teetogreen painfree for analysis and treatment of chronic strains or acute injuries call to see our sports physiotherapists massage therapists kinesiologists personal trainers an accredited university of toronto faculty of rehabilitation medicine teaching facility director jennifer a zavitz hicke bscpt mcpa markham stoufiville health centre unionville gate health centre 377 church st suite g01 10 unionville gate suite 308 9054714259 9054790869