Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

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.”

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nurses Take Job Action After Years of NDP Neglect

Image Credit:  BC Nurses Union BC nurses have reached a breaking point after years of unsafe conditions, rising violence in the workplace and a government that wouldn’t listen. Now they are on the picket line fighting to be heard. Last week, nurses began job action with a 72-hour strike notice, refusing non-essential overtime and stepping back from non-nursing duties. As of Tuesday, they have escalated to picket lines for the first time in decades. This moment was avoidable. It is the result of years of unanswered concerns from the frontline workers who keep our hospitals running. Nurses have been raising the same concerns for years: unsafe staffing levels, rising violence on the job, and a workload no single person should have to carry. None of it is new, and none of it should have taken a strike vote to get the government's attention. "Nurses are exercising their legal right to job action, but it shouldn’t have had to come to this," said Kiel Giddens, MLA for...
Post a Comment
Read more

British Columbians Still Don’t Know Who’s Paying for NDP’s BC Hydro Deal

The NDP is making billion-dollar promises with BC Hydro, but British Columbians still don’t know who will pay the bill. Last week’s memorandum of understanding isn’t what the federal government and the NDP are making it out to be. It’s an admission that the NDP failed to make the long-term investments needed to keep B.C. powered. Now British Columbians have serious questions about the cost and whether BC Hydro ratepayers will end up paying the price. David L. Williams, MLA for Salmon Arm-Shuswap and Shadow Minister for BC Hydro and Electrical Energy Development , said British Columbians deserve clear answers about the full implications of the Canada–British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement. “British Columbians deserve the full truth,” said Mr. Williams. “This multi-billion-dollar announcement does not answer who pays for cost overruns, who pays for new generation, who carries the risk if industrial customers do not materialize, or whether ratepayers will be forced ...
Post a Comment
Read more

NDP Government Blames Everyone but Themselves

The federal government has announced new measures to support British Columbia's forestry sector, including $65 million in funding for projects across the province. While any support is welcome, it falls far short of the level of assistance other provinces have secured for key industries. Conservative Forests Critic Ward Stamer says the NDP government needs to take responsibility for its mismanagement of B.C.’s forest industry instead of trying to pass on the blame. Despite promising to create more jobs in the forest sector, the NDP government has overseen the loss of thousands of forestry jobs and 21 mill closures which have devastated communities. “If Premier Eby spent more time addressing the regulatory issues impacting the forestry sector than he did complaining about the federal government, we would not be in the position we are now,” said Stamer. “And instead of trying to place the blame for mill closures on Donald Trump, Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar should t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more