Returning from an extended sojourn in the willderness we note the latest example of troughery, wherein trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School Board have been pulling money out of the collection plate for some time now, it seems.

Of particular interest - to us anyway - is trustee Oliver Carroll's analysis of the situation, published on Saturday in the Toronto Star . While quick to blame a small number of trustees, Carroll seems to hold himself blameless of anything other than sitting by idly while other trustees noshed at the public trough. Maybe it's just us, but we're wondering how he rationalizes the M.Ed. TCDSB funded for him during his tenure. As the Star puts it "..., the tuition expense is unusual because board staff are reimbursed 60 per cent of the cost of courses – and only after they are successfully completed, said a spokesperson." We wonder if Oliver will be cutting a cheque to the board for the 40% that seems to have been overpaid. By the way, Oliver, nice look on your trustee page - could tthat be the Lake of Eternal Fire in the background?

While resignations en masse - coupled with criminal charges where apputpropriate - would seem to be in order, we predict nothing of the sort will happen. Instead, we anticipate - as we're already hearing - statements about the need to set proper guidelines in place. This will help ensure that these poor little ethically-challenged trustees can better distinguish the difference between right and wrong, at the very least helping them determine how much they can screw with the public purse.

Guess somebody missed the trust in trustee....