The Kerfuffle Over The Frontenac County Warden

Jeff Green | Jan 10, 2013

We will see over the next few months if members of county council co-operate with Warden Janet Gutowski or if they seek to undermine her at every opportunity. It appears that at least some of them are going to be willing to look past their anger over decision to stay on as warden in order to ensure that the business of the Council continues to be done.

But this year’s budget debate might be interesting, in particular the warden’s discretionary and travel budget, which stood at $41,000 in 2012.

But never mind what may or may not happen in the coming months.

Janet Gutowski’s decision to remain as warden represents another small chink in the dented armour of representative democracy in Canada. There are rules governing how our democratic institutions operate, and they were put in place to make democracy work. However, just as the provincial and federal governments have used prorogation to thwart the will of parliament, Gutowski has used a loophole in the Frontenac County procedural bylaw to defy the will of the majority of her colleagues on county council. She will be the last warden to do this, because that loophole will be closed for future councils.

During her first term as mayor of Central Frontenac, Janet Gutowski did not always follow the will of her own township council when she sat at the county table. She explained this to her council by saying she was the only politician in Central Frontenac who had been elected by the entire population of the township, and it was the people and not the local council that she represented at the county table.

She cannot make the same claim to Frontenac County Council about her decision to stay on as warden because she represents less than 1/5 of the county population. When Gutowski defied the will of county council, 82% of the county population lost a little bit of their democratic rights.