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Privacy Commissioner slams NDP for attempts to avoid investment transparency

John Horgan’s government has been slammed by the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) for refusing to commit to subjecting InBC, the NDP’s new $500 million high-risk investment fund, to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).


“John Horgan has a serious transparency problem. He buried a report on long-term care failures, hid local COVID-19 data until it was leaked, and is refusing a full public accounting for his government’s decision to delay declaring outbreaks in seniors' homes. Now he’s attempting to shroud a half-billion-dollar high-risk investment fund in secrecy,” said Todd Stone, BC Liberal Critic for Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation.

“The InBC fund will be investing taxpayer dollars in high-risk venture capital markets and it should be held to the highest standards of transparency. But so far, the NDP has refused to share any business plan or details on investment criteria, appointed NDP insiders to a majority on the board, and now refuses to subject InBC to Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation.”

Just one day after NDP Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon refused to commit to subjecting the InBC Crown Corporation to FOI legislation, the province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy has written a letter slamming the NDP government for not adding InBC as a public body under FIPPA.

“Other public bodies like ICBC, BC Hydro, and the BC Investment Management Corporation have been successfully responding to Freedom of Information requests for the past 30 years. It makes absolutely no sense for the NDP to give its investment fund, with a board stacked with NDP insiders, a secret exemption from public transparency and accountability,” added Stone.

“It’s truly astounding how hard John Horgan is trying to keep the operation of this high-risk investment fund a secret from British Columbians who deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent.”

 

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