The bestselling author and President of PEN Canada Philip Slayton discusses dysfunction in municipal politics in Canada, the subject of his new book Mayors Gone Bad (Viking, 2015), with Joseph Planta.
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Mayors Gone Bad by Philip Slayton (Viking, 2015).
Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Mayors Gone Bad [1] |
Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:
I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.
Philip Slayton joins me again. The bestselling author has written a new book, Mayors Gone Bad. It’s an engaging read about the sort of mayors we have had in Canada as of late. He looks at the these colourful characters that obviously include the former Toronto mayor Rob Ford and his exploits, but other mayors like Peter Kelly of Halifax and Gerard Tremblay of Montreal, both of who resigned from office. There’s Michael Applebaum who faces criminal charges, also from Montreal. And Larry O’Brien of Ottawa who was acquitted of criminal charges; Joe Fontana, London, Ontario’s mayor who was convicted of fraud and placed under house arrest. There are mayors like Susan Fennell of Brampton who was investigated for possible criminal use of city funds, and Sam Katz of Winnipeg who faced conflict-of-interest allegations. As did Hazel McCallion of Mississauga. There’s a lot in this book, and it presents the stories of these troubled mayors, and offers up possible solutions. We’ll discuss why, and just how powerless the job of mayor is, and how revisiting the constitution might address some of those concerns. It’s interesting the sort of folks who end up in municipal government as well. Philip Slayton authored the bestselling Lawyers Gone Bad, and was first on the program when his book Mighty Judgment: How the Supreme Court Runs Your Life was published in 2011. Philip Slayton has been a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada, dean of a Canadian law school, and senior partner of a major Canadian law firm. He is president of PEN Canada. www.philipslayton.com [2] is the website for more. The book is published by Viking. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Philip Slayton; Mr. Slayton, good morning.
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