Best of 2011: Comment: Pulling out the stops

From November 14, 2011:

A trip to the foot of Bay Street is all that’s needed to demonstrate the great work done by the Hamilton Waterfront Trust in converting the west Harbour into a tourist attraction. Similarly a visit to Confederation Park and the Beach Strip showcases another series of excellent trails and bikeways. None of this, however should excuse the organization from being more transparent about its finances. The trust owes its existence to a grant of over $6 Million from taxpayers that was part of the settlement of a lawsuit between the city and the former Hamilton Harbour Commissioners. Quite simply, the Waterfront Trust operates on public land and uses public money and should do its business in public. Instead we have a situation where the Trust, facing a large operating loss, waits until almost a year to share its financial information with the Council it should be reporting to. Saying that the information is posted on a federal website only compounds the problem. If the trust can share their financial information with Revenue Canada, why can’t it provide the same information in a timely manner to council? As protective councillors circle the wagons around the Trust, invoking the memory of the bad old Hamilton Harbour Commissioners—predecessors to the current Port –they seek to to deflect attention from the  real issue which is simple accountability and transparency. That is all anybody is asking.