London’s Mayor is in a real pickle. A couple of weeks ago allegations surfaced that in 2005 Joe Fontana, when he was an MP and senior cabinet minister in Paul Martin’s government, used a Public Works cheque to pay for his son’s wedding reception.
The London Free Press produced a fuzzy photo of a cheque stub and an ex-manager of the Marconi Club who said it happened. The Mayor said he would look into it but keep working at the job he was elected to do. Meantime the RCMP launched an investigation which is still ongoing. So far Fontana hasn’t produced any proof that he either did or did not spend nearly $21,000 of government funds on a family function but concerns about his integrity are growing. Three organizations asked him to reconsider his attendance at their events this week. But what happened at city council’s meeting this week was the most telling tale of how the city’s administration is falling apart.
A fed-up councillor attempted to bring forward a motion to ask the Mayor to step aside while this scandal is still in the air. The motion had no real teeth but it was symbolic and would send a message that representatives of the people were hearing that the Mayor’s silence was leading to questions about his ability to conduct himself as the head of the city. Fontana and his buddies quashed it with the fastest vote I’ve ever seen. And I did see it because this was the first meeting that was live-streamed. It was largely unspoken but it was the elephant in the room. Our arrogant and self-righteous Mayor won the battle but the outcome of the war remains to be seen.
It’s my own personal theory that despite government scandals involving hundreds of millions this one has taken hold because the amount is manageable. The average person can relate to 21-grand. They can feel what it would feel like to lose that amount. And the outrage is real because of that. When our former Mayor lost to Fontana in the last election, she apparently had knowledge of the allegedly improper payment but chose not to pursue it to keep the campaign clean. If that’s true, Anne Marie Decicco-Best did us all a disservice not just by losing the election but by not protecting our interests.
How long does it take to get a record from a bank? I don’t think it’s two weeks unless you’re dealing with an overseas financial institution. But I could be wrong. I hope it all turns out to be a lot of hooey but the more time that passes before Fontana clears his reputation, the more it looks like we might have paid for an extravagant reception that we weren’t even invited to.