Vaughan mayoral candidates give nod to lobbyist registry

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 9, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

Vaughan could become the fourth municipality in Ontario to implement a lobbyist registry aimed at keeping track of who is seeking to shape policies and influence decisions made at city hall.

There’s widespread support for such a registry amongst candidates vying to be the city’s next mayor and from those seeking to fill Vaughan’s three regional council seats.

Currently, Toronto and Ottawa are the only municipalities in the province with online lobbyist registries to keep a public record of paid professionals who meet with senior bureaucrats and councillors - and to disclose exactly what they’re talking about.

Hamilton council recently voted to establish a registry next summer.

Mayoral hopefuls Maurizio Bevilacqua, Daniel DeVito and Paul Donofrio have declared their support for a lobbyist registry in Vaughan.

Also pledging their support are several regional council candidates including incumbents Michael Di Biase and Deb Schulte along with challengers Mario Ferri, Richard Lorello and Carrie Liddy.

Incumbent Gino Rosati said, to date, he has not seen the need for one, but he has vowed to “keep an open mind in the future, should such a system prove to be beneficial.”

(Mayoral candidate Savino Quatela and regional council candidate Max Power did not respond to repeated requests for comment by The Citizen’s deadline.)

When asked if there’s a need for greater transparency and accountability at city hall and, if so, what they would do to address it, the three mayoral candidates gave very different responses.

Bevilacqua touted past initiatives he championed such as the Vaughan Accord, a document signed by all council members that sets out principles for cooperative and transparent governance; program review, a line-by-line analysis of the city’s expenditures as well as public service renewal and the institution of an internal auditor who reports directly to council.

“In my inaugural speech as mayor on December 6, 2010, I clearly outlined my vision for the City of Vaughan,” Bevilacqua said. “Today, I believe we have come closer to the realization of that vision, which has always been guided by the principles of transparency and accountability.”

DeVito, meanwhile, pledged to introduce a progress report system, “which would annually delineate the details of council’s efforts to address those issues” of increased accountability and transparency.

For his part, Donofrio said he “will invite ratepayers groups and interested members of the public to participate in non-personal items ...(and) bring all major projects and city business before the taxpayers, in order to actively promote public participation.”