Mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis held a news conference Friday where she called for there to be less secrecy and closed-door decision making at City Hall.
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Speaking at her campaign headquarters, Wasylycia-Leis noted two recent freedom-of-information requests that were denied. One of them was the familiar request she alluded to last week surrounding the sewage and water deal with Veolia. The other was a request related to an Our Winnipeg land use planning document.
Wasylycia-Leis alleged Mayor Sam Katz’s office played a role in the denial of her Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) requests.
“Our freedom-of-information laws exist for one reason only, and that’s to protect the public interest,” said Wasylycia-Leis. “But this insistence on flouting
transparency rules in favour of keeping important documents under lock and key underscores the complete disregard at City Hall for the public’s right to know.”
A request made to the mayor’s office for a response wasn’t returned Friday afternoon, but on his campaign website, Katz said, “(She) has made statements that are patently false and misleading to the public.”
“The truth is the city already fully complies with FIPPA legislation. If this candidate’s pledge is to be believed,then why has the MP for 13 years denied access to her own spending of tax payer dollars and has refused to disclose how she spent $2,046,962 as a Member of Parliament from 2000-01 to 2008-09 according to the Canadian Tax Payers Federation,” the statement from ReElectSam.ca read.
The civic election is October 27.
ChrisD.ca video/WpgCameraMan
