I don’t know if I should laugh or cry:
That’s right: because “Halifax Regional Municipality is dedicated to the principle of open and transparent government and is accountable to the citizens it serves,” mayor Peter Kelly has proclaimed next week “Right to Know Week.” That of course is the very same mayor Peter Kelly who is so dedicated to “open government” that he approved $5.4 million in secret loans to concert promoter Harold MacKay; the very same mayor Peter Kelly who is so enamoured with “transparent government” that he kept knowledge of the loans from not just the public but also from city council; the very same mayor Peter Kelly who so loves to be “accountable to the citizens” that once knowledge of the illegal loans and loss of $360,000 became public, he refused to resign in disgrace.
And yes, the city celebrating “Right to Know Week” is the very same city that regularly stretches the legal basis for secret government meetings to include anything that might cause public concern, such that council meets in secret nearly every week to discuss issues like which councillor will sit on which committee; the very same city that refuses to make public the terms of multi-year contracts with companies managing its recreation facilities; the very same city that won’t allow reporters to talk to city employees unless the entire conversation is first approved, vetted and managed by the city’s PR department.
I suppose it’s telling that Right to Know Week is just five days long, Monday, September 26 through Friday, September 30. Evidently, the Right to Know takes weekends off, and presumably come Monday, October 3 we’ll be right back to “Screw You, It’s None Of Your Business 51 Weeks.”
Still, the celebratory spirit of Right to Know Week gives us the excuse to put the spotlight on the city’s actual practice of “open and transparent government.” Each day next week I will ask the city for some piece or pieces of information, and I’ll report on the results in this space.
I have my own ideas for information to request, but readers’ suggestions are most welcome. Please use the comments here, or post them to Twitter.
Tim Bousquet is at timb@thecoast.ca and @PDuffysGhost on Twitter.
This article appears in Sep 15-21, 2011.
I ‘ve thought about this and most of my questions are boring… more “right to analysis so I can have an informed opinion week” would be what I’m looking for: For example…
What was the total budget and size the the bureaucracy in the region pre-amalgamation compared to what it is now?
Why has there never been a formal review of Amalgamation?
What is the Mayor’s Job Description?
What form of municipal government does HRM officially have? Is it CAO- Council by law?
What was the population of Halifax (peninsula) in the past 20, 30, 50, 70 years?
Can HRM challenge the Municipal Government Act?
Why don’t the leaders of the city and province communicate more?
Why are there so many agencies, boards and commissions like Greater Halifax Partnership?
Community by community, who really pays the most taxes and who consumes the most taxes? Is there an imbalance as many believe?
Given the modest amounts that come from fares, wouldn’t it make more sense in the big picture to have down buses be free on boarding?
Why does government continue to grow so much?
Who (apparently) focuses the police on fee and fine oriented work over community building efforts?
What actual profit is there at the end of the day in the privateer style parking police system?
And, just for background info, on a map, show me who owns downtown Halifax.
This strikes me as the kind of proclamation that would have been issued in the old Soviet Union…
1) The budgets of the 4 partners are available through various sources, Municipal Statistics is a good start
2) Because the council never asked for one, the government and the opposition parties never asked for a review
3) Read the HRM Charter – kissing babies is not mentioned and nor is the requirement to lie to the public and the council
4) Read the HRM Charter and the Police Act
5) Go look up Stats Canada and work it out
6) Most of the MGA does not apply to HRM because of the HRM Charter
7) They do, they just don’t tell us or the Mayor lies to us and tells us ‘That is the first I have heard of ……” He knew about changes to the agreement for takeover of the costs of jails etc but when it became public he marched with other UNSM mayors and pretended that Dexter had never told him about the change.
8) The sports facilities are run by seperate boards and have been for decades. The Board of Police Commissioners is required by the Police Act as it has been for 100 years of so.
9) Almost impossible to calculate.
10) No, dumb idea. If it was free we’d need many more buses.
11) Nature of the beast. Politicians always want to be seen to be giving you something even if it costs you money and didn’t want it. Talking about clean water, good sewers, safe streets and safe communities is just boring so they have to invent ways to look ‘progressive’
12) Excellent question. Write a letter to the Chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners and ask him how the board determines policing priorities. Or, read the minutes and realise how little time they actually spend determining the priorities or following the directions in the Police Act and the Regulations.
13) Enough to keep the Finance department and the CAO happy
14) Take yourself off to the Registry of Deeds in Burnside and spend less than $20 to look up the computerised records of the properties you consider to be in ‘downtown Halifax’. It is quite simple and fast. Or, if you have a friend who is a real estate agent ask them to let you use their computer to access the same info that you will get in the Registry of Deeds; it will show owners and assessed values.
Any more questions ?
Thanks for the information Mr. Blow about where I might find the answers to these questions if I was in fact the most engaged citizen in HRM. : )
I think you are right of course, most of the answers, at least where to go and get the answers, is obvious.
The thing is I was using these questions as a rhetorical device – thinking how little context and background information is readily available to help citizens make informed decisions.
So, when we’re offered consultation or whatever they call it about road widening, convention centres, stadiums of electoral boundaries the offer is somewhat disingenuous because we don’t have ready access to the information required to make an informed decision.
As a single example: the “who pays the taxes issue”. There is seldom an issue that comes up that is not coloured by notions people have about who pays the most taxes across HRM and who gets breaks. Intuitively it’s a decision factor that I think appeals to a sense of fairness. But the government steadfastly does not have that information. It’s a quirk of amalgamation. Before that it would be a simple matter to know the tax base in each community. Now that information is… what… lost?
It’s complex. As Canadians and Nova Scotians we certainly do not judge people by how much taxes they pay and everyone has the same bill of rights regardless of what they pay or don’t pay. We’re all proud of this.
But there is a sense that at the local government level it’s not fair or helpful that one city, town, village or community might materially and consistently have to underwrite the finances of another.
If we had this information at least we could talk about it instead of the dangerous and almost certainly wrong information that gets tossed around in debate.
John, I think you should write that letter to the Police Commission about how priorities are set. I don’t know, perhaps it is all about that Kelly committee on violence. As an aside the Police Chief is supposed to submit an annual report but I have yet to see one.
As for other questions I think we should ask for copies of all correspondence between Kelly & Butts re the approval of Stage 2 stadium study.
Tim do you research…..You have to be the worst reporter ever:
“In 2011, the Canadian RTK Week will take place from September 26 to September 30. This year marks the sixth year that Canadians have celebrated RTK Week, and there are a great number of events planned coast to coast.
Internationally, RTK Day began on September 28, 2002, in Sofia, Bulgaria at an international meeting of access to information advocates who proposed that a day be dedicated to the promotion of freedom of information worldwide. It is now celebrated globally and continues to grow and expand each year, both internationally and within Canada, with more participants and new exciting events being added. “
Right to Know website:
http://www.righttoknow.ca/en/Content/defau…
Down in Kelly Hall it is ‘Right to No!’ week.
Yes, I’m well aware that Right To Know Week is an international event. But that doesn’t mean the city of Halifax has to hypocritically jump on board. It’d be like the state of Texas proclaiming its observance of End Death Penalty Week.
I believe this proclamation started with Premier Darrell Dexter and filtered down to the municipalities. I could be wrong, but I don’t the Kelly had a choice.
“This strikes me as the kind of proclamation that would have been issued in the old Soviet Union…”
This is right on the money. This type of straight up bullish*t is what is wrong with our society today. We need to start calling people on their bullish*t. This would be a great place to start.
This makes my blood boil. Complete Arrogance.