Town has turned Freedom of Information into a money-maker
We find it interesting that the Town of Osoyoos has turned public questions into a money-making venture.
The Osoyoos Times recently made two requests for information to the Town of Osoyoos. The first was the specific information regarding cheques written to law firms. The second was for the actual costs of turning the former elementary school into the town's new recreation centre.
In the first case (the cheques written to law firms), the request for information on a cheque written to Lidstone Young Anderson in the amount of $55,887.83 was turned down completely because of solicitor client privilege.
On the remaining requests for information, which included another cheque to Lidstone Young Anderson and the rec centre costs, the Times was given a written breakdown of the costs associated with providing that information. In both cases it was around $24. We were then told the town couldn't proceed until a deposit had been received.
The Freedom of Information Act was not created to make getting information more difficult, but rather the opposite.
The information requested here should not fall under FOI legislation and the town should be more than willing to provide that information to taxpayers without collecting yet more taxes.
As for solicitor client privilege, aren't the taxpayers the clients and don't they have a right to know where their money is going? What seems to be forgotten here is that the taxpayers of Osoyoos are the Town of Osoyoos and instead of hiding information, or just as bad, charging people for it, the Town of Osoyoos should be open and up-front.
We also can't help but ask, why it isn't?
