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PAGE 6 COMMENT Law Times Group Publisher . . . . . . Karen Lorimer Editorial Director . . . . . . Gail J. Cohen Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glenn Kauth Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . .Kendyl Sebesta Staff Writer . . . . . . Michael McKiernan Copy Editor . . . . . . . . Katia Caporiccio CaseLaw Editor . . . . . . Lorraine Pang Art Director . . . . . . . . . Alicia Adamson Account Co-ordinator . . . Catherine Giles Electronic Production Specialist . . . . . . . . . . . . Derek Welford Advertising Sales . . . Kimberlee Pascoe Sales Co-ordinator . . . . . . . . Sandy Shutt ©2011 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Editorial Obiter provides a good example of how mu- nicipalities waste money on litigation. Th e Cornwall case involved city em- Money wasted on legal costs fighting whistleblower A s a new report reveals Ontario cities' spending habits on legal services, the City of Cornwall ployee Diane Shay, a health and safety offi cer who reported an incident of abuse at a nursing home to the province in 2008 after her manager told her not to get involved. Th e home's administra- tor ended up informing the province about the abuse as well, but Shay faced discipline and eventually lost her job. Th e province took the city to task for the treatment of Shay by laying charges under its whistleblower provisions. Th e city pleaded guilty last month and, as a result, faced a $19,000 fi ne. According to a report in the Cornwall Standard Freeholder, the charges under the Homes for the Aged and Rest Homes Act cost $190,000 in lawyer fees. At the same time, a civil suit by Shay led to costs of $19,000. Shay, meanwhile, is now work- ing for the city again. Th e case comes as the Ontario Benchmarking Initia- Municipal tive released new data on cities' legal spending habits. Th e results were fairly positive. In fact, the study showed that the median legal cost per $1,000 in municipal operating and capital ex- penditures decreased to $2.79 in 2010 from $3.05 in 2008. At the same time, while costs for external counsel rose during that period, the 12 municipali- ties studied reduced median legal op- erating costs per in-house lawyer hour to $127 last year from $141 in 2008. It's good to see that cities are having some success in restraining their legal budgets, but the Cornwall case shows how some municipalities waste money on fruitless litigation that's contrary to the public interest. While the city may have a plausible argument that the nursing home abuse wasn't Shay's responsibility to report, the initial in- dications that management wasn't go- ing to do anything about the case show exactly why she had every justifi cation to act. Th at's what whistleblower legis- lation is for. For the city to then intim- idate and discipline her for her actions provides further proof of the need for strong protections. Th ankfully, the province took action in this case. Th e case comes around the same time the Toronto Star ran a series on nursing home abuse. It found that despite recent legal changes, nursing homes continue to lag on reporting such incidents. While governments in this country may love using the cloak of confi dentiality provisions to prevent reporting of information that makes them look bad, given the aging of our population and the resulting pressures on service providers, we need more, not less, disclosure of these types of cases. Regardless of the chains of command and reporting structures that employ- ers would like people such as Shay to follow, it's in the public interest to deal with abuse cases. It's even more impor- tant that we do so without wasting pub- lic money on legal costs stemming from eff orts to shut down whistleblowers. — Glenn Kauth and opposition MPPs alike a glimpse at where the govern- ment is headed. Last week's throne speech, T however, was notable for what it didn't say and what it didn't map out. Sure, there were the usual platitudes around working harder and smarter, that the road ahead is going to be rocky, and that spending restraint is going to be necessary if only to preserve programs at the all- important health and educa- tion ministries. If they'd tabled a speech with a similar tone and mood four years ago, we all would have nodded sagely and agreed they were being sensible. Th is time around, it's four years too late and $16 billion short. Th e latter fi gure, inciden- tally, is the budget shortfall, a number Finance Minister Dwight Duncan let slip in his economic update the next day. Th e defi cit has ballooned from $14 billion, give or take he throne speech is traditionally the road map to give voters Throne speech a road map to ruin Inside a few hundred million partly because slower growth means a $778-million drop in reve- nues compared to the forecast about six months ago. Last spring, the govern- ment gambled that things would pick up. Th ey lost the bet with your money. Th en they bet again in the election by pandering to voters with a promise to cancel the Missis- sauga, Ont., natural gas power plant and thereby buy a legis- lature seat in order to cling to power at taxpayer expense. Th ey won that gamble. Tax- payers lost, but we still don't know what it will cost. Th e throne speech lacked details on spending cuts as did Duncan's economic update last week. Th ere was a good rea- son for that. Th e government hasn't approved how it'll fi nd the money. We have, in eff ect, a coali- tion government, although it's an unoffi cial marriage. Instead of declaring their love with wedding bands, Pre- mier Dalton McGuinty has, politically speaking, slipped Queen's Park By Ian Harvey in the back door and shacked up with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. Th eirs is truly a love that dare not speak its name because it's not the mandate the voters issued on Oct. 6. McGuinty has rejected Con- servative Leader Tim Hudak and instead wooed Horwath to the fold. Th ere will be no wage freeze for the unionized public service. Instead, we'll see staff reductions by attrition. Hudak can stamp his feet and refuse to support the throne speech, but that won't change a thing as long as McGuinty and Hor- wath are together. It may be a tenuous rela- tionship but it's going to have to work. McGuinty rejected Horwath's demand to take the HST off home heating, but www.lawtimesnews.com married couples don't always agree on everything, so there will be compromises on oth- er issues. Horwath, in fact, is already making a wish list of wedding presents. Higher corporate taxes are probably a good bet. Th e unions will play ball because two of the most pow- erful organizations in the province will see more money for their ranks in spending on health care and education. And if the unions are happy, the house of Horwath and Mc- Guinty will be harmonious. In the interim, the Liber- als are betting economist Don Drummond will fi nd some magic pots of gold when he re- ports in January on effi ciencies in government programs. It all sounds like the KPMG report to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. It identifi ed non-core services for cuts, but the knee- jerk reaction has paralyzed the budget process again at the City of Toronto. Th e risk is the same thing could happen at Queen's Park. One of the trial balloons fl oated already by the November 28, 2011 • Law Times Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON • M1T 3V4 Tel: 416-298-5141 • Fax: 416-649-7870 www.lawtimesnews.com Publications Mail Agreement Number 40762529 • ISSN 0847-5083 Law Times is published 40 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON, M1T 3V4 • 416-298-5141 clb.lteditor@thomsonreuters.com CIRCULATIONS & SUBSCRIPTIONS $165.00 + HST per year in Canada (HST Reg. #R121351134) and US$259.00 for foreign addresses. Single copies are $4.00 Circulation inquiries, postal should include a copy of the mailing label(s) and should be sent to Law Times One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto ON, M1T 3V4. Return postage guaranteed. Contact Eman Aboelsaud at: eman.aboelsaud@thomsonreuters.com or Tel: 416-609-5882 Ext. 2732 or Fax: 416-649-7870. ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries and materials should be directed to Sales, Law Times, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON, M1T 3V4 or call Karen Lorimer at 416-649-9411 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters. com, Kimberlee Pascoe at 416-649-8875 kimberlee. pascoe@thomsonreuters.com, or Sandy Shutt at sandra.shutt@thomsonreuters.com Law Times is printed on newsprint containing 25-30 per cent post- consumer recycled materials. Please recycle this newspaper. returns and address changes province is to pay doctors less for some procedures on the grounds that technology allows them to perform them faster. In the meantime, bigger is- sues are looming. Prime Min- ister Stephen Harper's omni- bus crime bill means the court system is going to need more resources, as will Legal Aid Ontario and the corrections system. Where's that money coming from? It all adds up to a major crunch. Ontario may not be in dire straits like Greece and Italy, but by Canadian expecta- tions, it's in the same boat. Th e next shoe to drop is inevitable: taxes. Whether it's a carbon tax, an increased health-care premium or added user fees, the bottom line is the same. Th ere's only one source of government revenue: our collective wallets. Ian Harvey has been a journal- ist for 34 years writing about a diverse range of issues including legal and political aff airs. His e-mail address is ianharvey@ rogers.com.

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