The Best Man for the Job : Joe Fratesi and the Politics of Sault Ste. Marie

Exploring the why and the how of civic corruption in a Northern Ontario city, this compelling story begins in the late 1980s, when the official Languages policies of Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney, and David Peterson collided with the Sault’s deep-rooted resistance to bilingualism. The man at the center of the uproar over the city's infamous English-only resolution was Mayor Joe Fratesi, whose unwavering support for the resolution made him a wildly popular local hero. Unfortunately for him, it also killed any chance of his being appointed a judge, which sent him looking in other directions for career advancement. In 1995 he spotted another job he wanted, this one under the control of the city council he had dominated for years. He went for it, breaking the law repeatedly in the process, plunging the Sault into a bitter two-and-a-half year political and legal battle over ethics in public office. Harvey Sims was one of the Sault residents who fought Fratesi's appointment through the court system, and now he provides a sobering account of his hometown’s dysfunctional politics, greed, intimidation, lawbreaking, and contempt for basic standards in public office.