Tuesday August 30, 2011
Posted By Suzanne Anton
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECity Hall forbids Anton from releasing $100,000 Green Grant Project descriptions
Vancouver, BC – NPA candidate for mayor Suzanne Anton wants to show you what your taxes are being spent on, but Gregor Robertson forbids it. Robertson and his Vision Vancouver city councillors voted to dole out $100,000 of taxpayers’ money to various Greenest City Neighbourhood Grants projects, but won’t allow the public to see full descriptions of the projects.
The grants funded the famous front yard wheat fields, a private courier business, and the "Story of How".
“I’ve now seen the in-depth description of the Greenest City grant applications,” says Anton, “One of the wackiest is the ‘Story of How’ project that you’re paying $10,000 for, but I’m forbidden from showing taxpayers the details.”
Anton says she asked for the Greenest City grant applications weeks ago, but when they finally arrived they came with a warning that she was not allowed to reveal the contents, and could face a lawsuit if she did. Anton, a former crown prosecutor, says the threat of legal action is ridiculous.
“Under the NPA council, the public could see who and what council had decided to pay money to. Now, under Gregor Robertson, this information is too sensitive to release to the public? I don’t believe it, and frankly I think it’s simply a way to keep attention from more and more wacky schemes that waste tax dollars.”
Anton said the ‘Story of How’ project that Mayor Gregor Robertson and his Vision Vancouver Councillors have voted to spend $10,000 is holding workshops, with the application stating: "We want to ensure that as Vancouverites move forward on greenest city actions, that we are all learning lessons from and understanding the city's past. This paired with tangible take aways of actionable tools and the mixing of past innovations with new ideas and approaches to actions on sustainability, will make for fertile ground moving forward."
"I've read the application several times and see absolutely no value to taxpayers being provided by this project," says Anton.
“Quite simply, if organizations are going to ask for public funding, they should expect that those requests will be scrutinized and open to the public,” added Anton. “This is just plain common sense. The taxpayer has a right to see what their money is being spent on.”
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Vancouver's Civic Non-Partisan Association (NPA) is an independent organization made up of citizens who live, work or own businesses or properties in the City of Vancouver. One of Canada's longest established political organizations, the NPA has elected mayors, city councillors, park board commissioners and school board trustees since 1938. Fiscal responsibility has been fundamental to NPA decision making throughout its history.
Global BCTuesday August 30, 2011Posted By Suzanne AntonWatch the video here
