Did it ever occur to Premier Dalton McGuinty to ask voters whether they want city councillors and school trustees to be awarded the plum of an extra year in office?

Apparently not. Out of nowhere this week, McGuinty announced before an audience of municipal councillors that he will pass legislation -- in time for November's municipal elections -- extending the term of office for all municipal politicians to four years from the present three.

No wonder the councillors, who have been lobbying for this change, gave him a standing ovation.

Apparently McGuinty was looking for a way to appease the Association of Ontario Municipalities, which, along with CUPE, is furious with Bill 206, his pension reform legislation for municipal employees.

Municipalities oppose the bill because they argue it will lead to huge new costs -- and tax hikes -- as they scramble to find the money to pay for dramatically improved pension plans for police and firefighters.

What this latest idea from McGuinty means is that municipal politicians will become even less accountable to voters than they are now.

In part because only one in three voters casts a ballot in municipal elections, the power of name recognition gives those who already hold municipal office a tremendous advantage over any challengers.

By giving these politicians an extra year in office, McGuinty is undermining local democracy and making it even easier for out-of-touch "career" municipal politicians to remain in power long past their due date (as many already have).

The disturbing thing about McGuinty's pledge as it relates to Toronto in particular is that he's already planning to give councillors more authority and more taxation powers, through his City of Toronto Act.

Now he wants to give them an extra year in office?!

And what has he received in return from Toronto councillors in terms of a commitment to clean up their fiscal house -- which he always said was the quid pro quo for giving them more power?

Nothing. Toronto continues to drown in red ink and beg for bailouts, and shows no signs of changing its ways.

McGuinty should deep-six this dumb idea. Let him run on it as one of his promises in the 2007 provincial election, if he still thinks it's such a great proposal by then.