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Mississauga News - May 29, 2008 - By John Stewart jstewart@mississauga.net

Referee needed to sort out critic's complaints


In his latest dispute with the municipality, four-time mayoralty candidate, Donald Barber has councillors collectively scratching their heads.

The constant complaining of a controversial civic activist has City Council considering hiring an ombudsman.

It's not unusual for Donald Barber to have a complaint — or many — about what goes on at City Hall in Mississauga.

But the four-time mayoralty candidate seems to have thrown a spanner into the works in his latest dispute with the municipality.

His call for an independent review of his latest raft of concerns about how City Hall operates, including how its security forces deal with citizens like him, has councillors collectively scratching their heads about how to proceed.

In a formal report prepared as a result of a series of complaints Barber submitted to Council on March 26, it has been suggested that the City hire an independent investigator to review all of the materials and prepare a recommendation to Council.

The complaints allege a number of improper activities by City legal, election, security and financial staff.

In her report, City Manager Janice Baker said, "the City should engage an independent and impartial person or entity to carry out the investigation and prepare a report."

But when the potential cost — likely to exceed $50,000 — was mentioned, councillors decided to give the issue further consideration.

Barber, who was charged with criminal assault stemming from an incident with City security guards in June 2006 — a charge that was eventually dropped by the Crown for lack of evidence — believes City staff have become too biased against him to arbitrate his complaints.

And he wants the City to come up with an independent review process to sift through the accusations and counter-accusations and make a judgement on whether his concerns about various issues are valid.

Some councillors suggested that the complaints process, which has largely consisted of staff responding to individual concerns expressed by ratepayers, become more formalized.

It might finally be time for a municipal ombudsman in the City, suggested Mayor Hazel McCallion.

"I think we should look at the (complaints) process," she told councillors last week. "An ombudsman might be the way to go at the end of the day."
Ward 11 councillor George Carlson told The News that using an ombudsman could ultimately save the municipality money in arbitration and mediation fees. But he added that formal complaints such as Barber's, "aren't something that come up that often."

City spokesperson Catherine Monast said, "what we are looking for is transparency."

As for Barber, he says he's not holding his breath in anticipation of a fair hearing.

If he doesn't get an answer he considers satisfactory, which is highly unlikely in his opinion, he'll likely take his case to the provincial ombudsman.


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