Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

[Northern Light]

Many years ago, I spoke with Mike and asked him if he was willing to throw his hat into the mayoral race (Rob ford) was mayor at the time, he candidly said: “Not yet, I have still much to learn”. I was really hoping he would at some time.

For the record, posts from you every three months is not enough!

Good to see you posting again!

 

[Thinker]

For the record, posts from you every three months is not enough!

Good to see you posting again!

Ummm.... yeah the last time I was absent it involved my son and husband dying within three months of each other - yes running back and forth to cancer units, radiation takes precedence, however that was two years ago. Been a little busy these days, which again involves health issues, now caring for a good friend sick with lymphoma. Thanks for the warm welcome however promise to pay more attention to this forum

 

[Jonny5]

The discovery phase of this trial will yield some interesting documents, I imagine.

Brampton’s former integrity commissioner is suing councillors for millions in damages over her firing. Mayor Patrick Brown backs her claims

Muneeza Sheikh claims her dismissal was part of a conspiracy among councillors who she had investigated for ethics complaints.

www.thestar.com

This is one of those ones where no one involved sounds like they aren't guilty of something

Fortini said it was Sheikh’s fees, which had approached $750,000 since 2020, that were the main reason for the termination of her contract. He said the integrity commissioner for the Region of Peel charges a flat rate of $110,000 per year.

In the claim, Sheikh said her billable rate was $550 per hour, and that no member of the “bloc” had “previously raised concerns” about her fees. She said despite the councillors’ objection to her billable model, they later voted to hire a new integrity commissioner who also uses billable hour pricing.
But her main contention in the claim is that the councillors — including those facing probes themselves — in a closed council meeting changed the bylaw that governs the dismissal of an integrity commissioner from requiring a two-thirds majority to pass to one needing only a simple majority.

Days later, the motion to remove Sheikh passed with a 5-3 vote. Two councillors, including Bowman, declared a conflict due to matters that were under review by Sheikh.
According to the lawsuit, Bowman voted to change the bylaw that led to her dismissal, which is why he is named in the suit.

$550/hour is closing in on the level the partners at Bay Street law firms charge to clients, though theirs may still be higher if they have a niche specialty, but still.... $550/hour is insane for that job.

 

[old boy]

The discovery phase of this trial will yield some interesting documents, I imagine.

Brampton’s former integrity commissioner is suing councillors for millions in damages over her firing. Mayor Patrick Brown backs her claims

Muneeza Sheikh claims her dismissal was part of a conspiracy among councillors who she had investigated for ethics complaints.

www.thestar.com

This is one of those ones where no one involved sounds like they aren't guilty of something


$550/hour is closing in on the level the partners at Bay Street law firms charge to clients, though theirs may still be higher if they have a niche specialty, but still.... $550/hour is insane for that job.

" nice work if you can get it and you can get it if you try "

 

[lenaitch]

The discovery phase of this trial will yield some interesting documents, I imagine.

Brampton’s former integrity commissioner is suing councillors for millions in damages over her firing. Mayor Patrick Brown backs her claims

Muneeza Sheikh claims her dismissal was part of a conspiracy among councillors who she had investigated for ethics complaints.

www.thestar.com

This is one of those ones where no one involved sounds like they aren't guilty of something


$550/hour is closing in on the level the partners at Bay Street law firms charge to clients, though theirs may still be higher if they have a niche specialty, but still.... $550/hour is insane for that job.

True, but regardless, terms of her contract should set out all of this; billable hours, fees and disbursements, any caps, process for exceeding a cap if billing gets high, early termination or extension of contract, etc., etc.

 

[Northern Light]

The discovery phase of this trial will yield some interesting documents, I imagine.

Brampton’s former integrity commissioner is suing councillors for millions in damages over her firing. Mayor Patrick Brown backs her claims

Muneeza Sheikh claims her dismissal was part of a conspiracy among councillors who she had investigated for ethics complaints.

www.thestar.com

This is one of those ones where no one involved sounds like they aren't guilty of something

First off, the damages claim of 20M is entirely nuts. Based on the substance above, she was averaging ~$375000 in annual billing or thereabouts....

So 20M would be asking for 50 years worth of billings. In a word, 'No'.

She is certainly correct, however, that Councillors who have a conflict of interest in a matter are supposed to declare said conflict, and generally refrain from voting on a matter.

Where a move is made to amend a procedure of Council, specifically in order to facilitate firing someone; if you happen to be under investigation at the time, you would be in conflict and ought not to be voting.

$550/hour is closing in on the level the partners at Bay Street law firms charge to clients, though theirs may still be higher if they have a niche specialty, but still.... $550/hour is insane for that job.

It is high as a billable rate for a lawyer, but not way high, rates on Bay Street for commercial law range from $300-$700 per billable hour. ( edit to add, I think the typical billing rates are excessive)

There is certainly a compelling case to be made for go for a flat-fee model instead. Based on her as-billed numbers above, it appears she averaged about 13 billable hours per week, give or take a couple.

The danger for both a lawyer and the municipality in a flat-fee scenario is that the work load is undetermined when the contract is signed.

* an interesting question in my mind is whether the job of 'integrity commissioner' inherently requires one to be a lawyer.

 

[Thinker]

First off, the damages claim of 20M is entirely nuts. Based on the substance above, she was averaging ~$375000 in annual billing or thereabouts....

So 20M would be asking for 50 years worth of billings. In a word, 'No'.

She is certainly correct, however, that Councillors who have a conflict of interest in a matter are supposed to declare said conflict, and generally refrain from voting on a matter.

Where a move is made to amend a procedure of Council, specifically in order to facilitate firing someone; if you happen to be under investigation at the time, you could certainly would be in conflict and ought not to be voting.




It is high as a billable rate for a lawyer, but not way high, rates on Bay Street for commercial law range from $300-$700 per billable hour. ( edit to add, I think the typical billing rates are excessive)

There is certainly a compelling case to be made for go for a flat-fee model instead. Based on her as-billed numbers above, it appears she averaged about 13 billable hours per week, give or take a couple.

The danger for both a lawyer and the municipality in flat-fee scenario is that the work load is undetermined when the contract is signed.

* an interesting question in my mind is whether the job of 'integrity commissioner' inherently requires one to be a lawyer.

I paid $300 for a lawyer to come to the hospital to have papers signed. His practice was 500 meter from the hospital. Business completed in less than 5 mins. I know my daughter in law charges between 350 to 500 an hr. for civil and criminal cases. Sadly good legal representation is far beyond the reach of the average person. But if the solicitor was offered a contract to be their sole representative, I don’t think it is too outrageous, noting they have staff and office space to pay for, however itemized statements should be provided for all work and services.

 

[lenaitch]

First off, the damages claim of 20M is entirely nuts. Based on the substance above, she was averaging ~$375000 in annual billing or thereabouts....

So 20M would be asking for 50 years worth of billings. In a word, 'No'.

She is certainly correct, however, that Councillors who have a conflict of interest in a matter are supposed to declare said conflict, and generally refrain from voting on a matter.

Where a move is made to amend a procedure of Council, specifically in order to facilitate firing someone; if you happen to be under investigation at the time, you could certainly would be in conflict and ought not to be voting.




It is high as a billable rate for a lawyer, but not way high, rates on Bay Street for commercial law range from $300-$700 per billable hour. ( edit to add, I think the typical billing rates are excessive)

There is certainly a compelling case to be made for go for a flat-fee model instead. Based on her as-billed numbers above, it appears she averaged about 13 billable hours per week, give or take a couple.

The danger for both a lawyer and the municipality in flat-fee scenario is that the work load is undetermined when the contract is signed.

* an interesting question in my mind is whether the job of 'integrity commissioner' inherently requires one to be a lawyer.

I can find no reference in the Municipal Act that lays out the requirements of qualification to be an integrity commissioner; although it does seem a natural fit. No doubt there is a course out there somewhere for the non-learned; it seems to be a bit of a growth industry.

I don't see this as a 'firing' matter - it's a contractual relationship. As a matter of governance, municipal employees don't work for council - they work for the CAO.

 

[Northern Light]

Deal is not yet done.........but Tesla is interested in building a rather large advanced manufacturing facility in Ontario.

Discussions are underway w/the province and Ottawa on a site and....'incentives'.

Tesla lobbying Ontario government as part of effort to set up Canadian manufacturing facility | Globalnews.ca

Tesla has been ramping up production with Musk last week speaking half in jest to shareholders yelling "Canada" - "We've got a lot of Canadas, I'm half Canadian, maybe I should."

globalnews.ca

Those lobbying on behalf of Tesla have already had meetings with Federal minister Champagne.

Lobbying w/the Ontario government has been filed about w/the Ontario Integrity Commissioner (as per procedure)

 

[Towered]

Deal is not yet done.........but Tesla is interested in building a rather large advanced manufacturing facility in Ontario.

Discussions are underway w/the province and Ottawa on a site and....'incentives'.

Tesla lobbying Ontario government as part of effort to set up Canadian manufacturing facility | Globalnews.ca

Tesla has been ramping up production with Musk last week speaking half in jest to shareholders yelling "Canada" - "We've got a lot of Canadas, I'm half Canadian, maybe I should."

globalnews.ca

Those lobbying on behalf of Tesla have already had meetings with Federal minister Champagne.

Lobby w/the Ontario government has been filed about w/the Ontario Integrity Commissioner (as per procedure)

Any insights into ideal sites?

 

[Northern Light]

Any insights into ideal sites?

Not yet, but shall put my ear to the ground........

I can say......Tesla does not build small facilities..........we're talking hundreds of acres or more. Won't be the GTA. (at least I can't see making the economics work)

 

[Jonny5]

Per the Star on the new "Strong Mayor law"

The new law would give the mayors the power to appoint a municipality’s chief administrative officer and hire and fire city department heads — but not “statutory appointments,” such as the chief of police, the fire chief, the chief medical officer of health, the auditor general, or the integrity commissioner.
It has not yet been determined whether posts like the head of the Toronto Transit Commission would be at the mayor’s purview.

Under the legislation, a mayoral vacancy would now trigger a byelection, though vacant council seats could still be filled by appointment.

 

[afransen]

Given how Tesla operates, near KW would make sense, to have a pool of engineering talent nearby. Windsor might be conceivable but maybe too much of a union town.

 

[Richard White]

Given how Tesla operates, near KW would make sense, to have a pool of engineering talent nearby. Windsor might be conceivable but maybe too much of a union town.

While I am all for unions. Unifor should have no say in the placement of the plant. It should also have ZERO involvement in the operations of it.

For once it would be nice to have a world class vehicle plant here without the interference of Unifor and their talking heads.

 

[Thinker]

While I am all for unions. Unifor should have no say in the placement of the plant. It should also have ZERO involvement in the operations of it.

For once it would be nice to have a world class vehicle plant here without the interference of Unifor and their talking heads.

Agreed, unions should have no input where the facilities should be build, however it should have say in how the workers at those facilities are treated and employment standards are met with regulations. So with -zero- involvement as you are suggesting it would be operating a a non union facility.