“Extra” payments are a training ground

Dear Editor,

One can only applaud Greg Milosh’s effort to hold councillors to account for paying themselves extra for just doing the job they were elected to do, that being the conduct of city business.

One can also applaud Rosemary McConkey for bringing the matter to the voters’ attention and the Oshawa Express for printing that letter last week.

The payment of “extras” is a training ground and “induction to process” for those who may eventually aspire to higher office at the provincial or federal level by way of political party.

At those levels, the rulers grant extra pay for those who find favour in the eyes of the rulers and garner committee appointments. It is just another way of binding the elected, who are supposed to represent the voters, to pledge allegiance and serve, obediently and with knee bowed, the party leaders.

If memory serves, a previous prime minister went so far as to appoint cabinet ministers’ parliamentary assistants to the Privy Council so as to strengthen the binding even more.

It may justly be called an alienation of the elected person’s loyalty to represent the voters.

For the uninitiated, Canada’s constitution is silent on the matter of political parties. They are merely corporations serving the interests of their contributing shareholder members.

Ed Goertzen