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This week one set of politicians blew away another set of politicians. The duly elected Public Utility Commissioners, all four of them, ceased to exist as elected officials as result of a vote of Town Council. The Mother of Democracy dropped a few tears but hardly any one else noticed, or even appeared to care.
Public accountability of our utility companies, by means of the ballot box, is now to be observed as a corporate exercise. The first phase of business taking over one of our democratic institutions is finished. The end result is that when power rates go up, as they will, there will be nobody to blame or to remedy the situation. The sad part about this is it happened without full public debate: neither in the public domain nor in Council. This process has been steered by a committee that has issued few public reports and a final report from the solicitor handling the transfer behind closed doors. A resolution of Council that did not even generate one sentence of comment from the Councillors elected to defend the public interest and who are supposed to inform us of these things, delivered the coup de grace. "All those in favour" was met with a thundering silence and hands waving as the duly elected commissioners watched their allegiance to the public disappear in front of their eyes. 112 years of history blown away by the legislative moves of Queen's Park and Cobourg Council. The Kremlin would have been proud of this piece of political chicanery.
The PUC is dead long live Holdco, Wiresco, Services Co and Retail Co. These are the successor companies that the "appointed" Directors of the Board will be supervising. The Municipality will be the sole shareholder and the public is even more confused about where they fit.
The public business of the PUC, where four citizens are elected to become governing commissioners has been replaced with a system of an appointed Board of Directors who will report to the owner at a shareholders' meeting every year.
In the passing of this august body, the PUC, I would like to say thank you to the few men who have been our elected commissioners. With an average age that reflects their wisdom all of these people have grown older in the position. When one was elected to the PUC it appeared that longevity was their destiny. We were served well by these long serving elected officials. It appeared that the nickname of the "Senate of Cobourg" was a fact rather than a perception and it made sense. Wise older men running an efficient operation and being re-elected as thanks from a grateful citizenry.
We will never see these kinds of people again because the rules have been rewritten. When the commissioners put their names forward for election over the past 112 years they did so out of a sense of obligation and public service. The requirements to be a Director of the new Company have been written to eliminate probably 70% of the present voting population. Too many citizens being elected to public boards have offended the powers to be in Toronto. After all what does Joe Blow know about being a Director? Not much, but he sure did know how to be a commissioner of the PUC!
As a "democracy watcher" I am sensitive to changes to the electoral system. Barriers to being allowed to be elected are subtle and not noticeable to the average person. Being charged $100.00 to put your name on the ballot or holding Council meetings in the daytime will disqualify some people. With the regulations contained in the bylaws of the holding company that controls the new utility companies further barriers have been erected. The voters should be vigilant and watch for anything that prevents anyone participating in local democracy. As Winston Churchill is said to have said "Democracy isn't a tidy process, but it is the best we've got". We should heed those words and thank the mighty men of the PUC whom for 112 years have proved him right.
Pfft
goes the PUC