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Wednesday July 4, zuui 1 lie , U A N . V 1JLLL, tifcAV fcK HU Bylaw update sought (C o n tin u e d fro m p a g e A1) officials are looking into the situation. "We don't take this' lightly." However, the mayor said, "We haven't been able to find any legal way of interven ing." The woman said her offers to buy the dog have been refused. She said Animal Aid and the Animal Alliance of Canada would find the dog a home -- if its owners would give it up. "Can't we do something to help before next winter comes?" the woman asked councillors. Gyergyai admitted the dog is kept in a manner that's in the low end of acceptable, but still acceptable, under the legal provisions that she said desperately need upgrading. By contrast, Gyergyai spoke of other pet owners who install electric lighting for light and warmth, and summer time air conditioning in a doghouse. While dogs don't feel cold as readily as humans -- especially large breeds -- they feel the heat more, said Gyergyai when pressed by Ward 1 Councillor Kevin Flynn as to whether there's a cut-off point as to the temperature dogs can be left outside. While the treatment of animals is regulated provincially and federally, some cities do regulate "the keeping of ani mals" by providing ground rules on size and quality of dog houses, and chain or leash length, stated a report to the committee from assistant Town solicitor Jennifer Huctwith. Gyergyai agreed, "The laws are sorely lacking." The local woman said she has presented a 1,000-name petition to the Ontario government and a 700-signature let ter to the federal government seeking change. Regulations beyond the OSPCA Act and Criminal Code would be new for Oakville and would likely have addition al enforcement costs, but would benefit dogs, reported Huctwith. Paperless trial precedent-settin; T he first "p a p erle ss" trial in H alton R eg io n 's history starts today in M ilton, w ith the tran sitio n to com puter-based docu m en tatio n already saving tax p a y ers an estim ated q u arte r o f a m illion dollars. "T he use o f co m p u ter tech n o lo g y in this case today affords us a glim pse o f the c o u rtro o m o f to m o rro w ," says H a lto n R e g io n a l P o lic e S erv ice (H R PS) D et. Sgt. C arey Sm ith, case m an ag er fo r the in v estig atio n . B eginning in 1998, P ro ject P hantom w as a jo in t service in v estig atio n in itia t ed by H R PS th at in volved a com plex, $ 2 0 -m illio n frau d scam in v o lv in g a n u m ber o f phony ca r dealersh ip s and v eh icle s as w ell as d efrau d ed G ST refunds. T he prelim in ary trial o f seven d e fen d a n ts fro m th ro u g h o u t the GTA ch arged in c o n n ectio n w ith the case w ill lin k the ju d g e , nin e d e fe n se law yers, three C row n A ttorneys and the in v estig atin g police o fficers via flat screen, high reso lu tio n co m p u ter m oni tors. (A total o f 19 people w ere charged w ith a v a rie ty o f fra u d re la te d offences.) T he p relim in ary trial is exp ected to last until early Septem ber. A lso involved in the in v estig atio n w ere the OPP, R CM P, the C a n a d a C ustom s and R evenue A gency and the O n tario M otor V ehicle C ouncil. T h eir efforts re su lted in m ore than 100,000 docum ents that form the basis o f the case ag ainst the defen d an ts - a nu m ber w hich presen ted in v estig ato rs w ith a s u b sta n tia l d isc lo su re issu e w here each d efendant req u ires a co m plete set o f the docum ents. R ath er than reproduce the contents o f m ore th a n 100 b a n k e r's b o x e s, in v e s tig a to rs c o p ie d the d o c u m e n ts onto seven co m p u ter d isks, w hich c o n tain all d o cu m en tatio n w hich w as c o l lected o v er the last three years. "T he co n cep t o f p ro v id in g d isc lo sure on CD R O M has not been w idely practiced in O ntario, and certain ly no one in this area has done it on an in v es tigation as com plex as th is," said Det. Sgt. Sm ith. T his use o f c o m p u te r tech n o lo g y w ill a llo w the ju d g e , la w y e rs and d efen d an ts to view docum ents sim u lta neously as they are presen ted in e v i dence. "T he co m p u teriza tio n o f the c o u rt room is one w ay police services and ju d ic ia l officials are w orking to g eth er in an effo rt to m ake our co urt process m ore e ffic ie n t," said D et. Sgt. Sm ith. "F raud cases h isto ric ally rely on paper, so it's sig n ifican t th at the trial is being p resen ted in an en tirely p ap erless fa sh io n ." Board changes will `emasculate' trustees says critic B y D e n n is S m ith S P E C IA L T O T H E B E A V E R Board has little room to manoeuvre (C o n tin u e d fro m p a g e A1) "Every board has this problem," she said. "There's a loud cry coming out about this in the press." Kisko added enrolment is growing, but there is not ade quate funding. When questioned about implementing the all day, alternate day junior kindergarten model, the superinten dent said this produced a net saving of $230,000. Kisko said this is based on transportation savings, minus increased lunchroom supervision costs. Trustees Peggy Russell and Michael Ellis asked how the upcoming budget would specifically impact the system. "I'm concerned at what price we're achieving a balanced budget," said Russell. Papke said a list of reductions could be provided later. This was not good enough for Ellis, who voted against the budget. "Do you want the budget to pass before we see what cuts are made to our services?" he asked. "There's a huge differ ence between a balanced budget and a budget that's good enough for kids." Kisko said with 85% of the budget consumed by salaries, there is little room for discretionary expenses. With that in mind, the board authorized some withdrawals from its working reserve funds. These will include $100,000 to integrate its two e-mail systems, $200,000 over three fiscal years to complete ele mentary telephone system replacement and funding for this summer's external audit, which could cost up to $50,000. Kisko said boards have a one-month reprieve from their June 30 budgeting deadline because provincial grants were late. W hen the Halton D istrict School Board reconvenes next fall, it will be operating under a new set of bylaws known as the pol icy governance model. And while the majority of trustees feel the new model will make the school board more efficient, O akville trustee Drew Currah fears it will reduce trustees to the role of a cheering squad. "Efficiency and effectiveness are not part o f dem ocracy," he said. "Dem ocracy is messy and democracy is needed." Currah was one of three trustees to vote against implementing the new policy gover nance bylaws. He was joined by Burlington trustees Peggy Russell and Mike Ellis. Halton District School Board Chair Ethel Gardiner has described policy governance as trustees developing and m onitoring poli cies, then holding the education director responsible. The new form of governance was actu ally approved last September by the board, but Currah and Russell said it's still difficult to grasp after six months of training. They argued unsuccessfully to delay the vote on policy governance last week until October. This would allow for more oppor tunity for public feedback on the issue, they argued. Instead, the board passed by bylaws and will hold community meetings to outline the governance model to the public in October. "I 'm not afraid of unpopular decisions, but I am opposed to making rushed deci sions that have not had the full consultation process," said Russell. The Burlington trustee said policy gover nance hands much responsibility over to the director and staff. "We need to be sure w e're not delegating responsibility to the director and putting ourselves in jeopardy legally," she said. "And I'm fearful that under policy gover nance my community will lose its voice and become m arginalized." Citizen delegate Wendy Burton said pol icy governance muzzles trustees by insist ing they speak with one voice, limiting speaking time and potentially the distribu tion o f m aterials to trustees. " ...this will em asculate trustees, concen trate too much power in the hands o f the director and disenfranchise the public," said Burton, a former chair of the school council for O akville T rafalgar H igh School (OTHS). She said dissent is integral to democracy and can lead to new, improved policy. "This board faces problems of real dif ferences in interests and philosophies...north vs. south, consolidation vs. decentralization, special programs vs. common program s," she said. "These are problems best solved through the balancing act that is politics." She expressed concern the proposed pol icy governance model will make negotiat ing teams accountable to the education director, give him control of the budget and make the education director responsible for hiring all supervisory officers. "All it allows trustees, who want to be involved in hiring, is to act as advisors to the director," said Burton. She indicated the board is rushing to pass its policy governance model without con sidering the full range of options, holding public discussion or obtaining an indepen dent legal review. Debbie Downs rem inded trustees the previous board has already approved policy governance. "Policies will be made by consultation and group interaction," said Downs, the board's governance and bylaw committee chair. "For many constituents this is not a big surprise. Trustees are working with school councils and the public on this." She added governing policies are not carved in stone and will be amended on a regular basis. "It will be advantageous for m oving for ward in terms of clear-cut policies that all can understand - trustees, staff and the pub lic," she said. Bylaws have not been amended in a huge manner other than to allow for changes in the structure of meetings. "They will include public input more than they exclude public input," she added. David Abbott said trustee roles should not change. "They will still advocate for the community, but trustees must look at the whole board. Hands-on m atters like transportation, plus the review of policies, are areas where the public will have input, he said. A bbott noted trustees are lim ited to speaking three minutes at a time, not three minutes in total. "Once everyone has spoken, they can talk again," he said. "No one is denying a trustee the right to speak." 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