Blessed by the Potato

David Shiner is currently a city councillor for Toronto, and running in the provincial election as a conservative (pthew!). While campaigning, he’s not really focusing on his job as a councillor, and it has become the custom in Toronto politics for councillors to go on unpaid leave when campaigning in other elections. Shiner didn’t, and for the past few weeks has continued to collect his rather substantial salary, raising a minor controversy. Attempting to make things right,

“Shiner also announced the pay he’s received since the election campaign began Sept. 10 will go to charity. His unpaid leave of absence will begin when he formally submits a letter to the city, which he expected to do Thursday or Friday.”

That really isn’t good enough. The city of Toronto is hurting for cash at the moment, it’s all over the news lately. The money should go back into the city coffers, not to some random charity (and in that case, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he got a tax receipt for the donation).