-CTF Applauds Municipal Referendum Legislation, Pushes for Similar Legislative Initiatives at the Provincial Level-

OTTAWA: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today reacted to the introduction of the Direct Democracy Through Municipal Referendums Act, 2000 which was tabled by Municipal Affairs Minister Tony Clement this afternoon in the provincial legislature at Queen's Park. The legislation sets clear rules, guidelines and electoral processes for municipalities that wish to engage citizens in the referendum process.

"Minister Clement and the government have taken steps today with this legislation to increase meaningful democratic involvement at the municipal level," stated CTF federal and Ontario director Walter Robinson. "Recent plebiscites and referendums in Toronto and other municipalities, while well-intentioned, were not governed by a consistent set of rules and legitimacy thresholds, which brought their results into question. The legislation tabled today ensures that this ambiguity and crisis of legitimacy will not plague future democratic consultations."

The CTF has long been a proponent of democratic reforms that empower taxpayers and ensure a greater sense of public policy ownership to citizens. The CTF was the major architect and proponent of Ontario's taxpayer protection and balanced budget legislation which was passed into law in November, 1999.

"With province-wide municipal elections slated for November, speedy passage of this bill will augment the election of new councils if municipalities place key contentious questions on the ballot as well for direct voter input," added Robinson. "Given the thresholds required for referendums to be binding, this can only serve to increase municipal voter turnout."

"At the risk of sounding trite, today truly is a good day for democracy," concluded Robinson. "Now we encourage the Minister and the government to go further and resurrect their citizen initiative proposals from a few years back to give voters the chance to place questions on the ballot of province-wide importance. We anxiously await Minister Clement's response to this idea."