We sure could have used Bill 130 when we plebeians were under the the thumb of the Dark One, former Mayor (ig)Noble.

However, present council is still a huge mess, chock full of self-serving elected officials with their own sets of agendas - petty and otherwise (read: pipeline profits for the businessperson council members or friends/lovers thereof).

The way SPB council has been run the past 5 years has been, well, darn embarrassing - I for one have no problem with an ombudsman monitoriing council and COW meetings. Perhaps then the ORDINARY FOLK of SBP will get what they deserve - competent, honest, world-view leadership from ALL elected council members working for a common goal - the betterment of SBP, rather than the profiteering on the backs of ORDINARY FOLK envisioned by some of them.

Councils under more scrutiny
Written by Ken Hashizume

Municipalities like Huron-Kinloss will have to be aware under a new
provincial law.

The implementation of Bill 130 means municipal councils are under more
scrutiny and their conduct could be subject to an investigation.

Clerk Sonya Watson says this would give the public an opportunity to
question the conduct of council under the Municipal Act.

She says that could result in, among other things, having an ombudsman
observe Council during closed sessions and the implementation of a code of
conduct.

While some municipalities are going through issues regarding the council of
the day, Mayor Mitch Twolan believes his council has no problems with
integrity.

Twolan says while they may not be right all of the time, he and the
councillors take pride in what they do for the Township.

He says Bill 130 is another responsibility that is being downloaded onto
municipalities and it is not fair to paint all municipalities with the same
brush.

Bill 130 came into effect this past January but some parts of the
legislation will not take into effect until 2008.