ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY

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It is readily acknowledged that government that is not transparent is more prone to corruption, abuse of privilege, errors,mis-appropriation of funds and undue influence because there is no public oversight or ability to provide informed questioning of decisions made or an opportunity to question the decision making process itself.

Purpose - The purpose of this blog is to shed light on the activities of a specific public body that has resisted being transparent - first by refusing to provide access to public records and more recently refusing to conduct its business in public - the South West Shore Development Authority (SWSDA). It is particularly appropriate that SWSDA be the focus of this blog since SWSDA has received some $100 million dollars in public investments in cash and kind since its creation in the mid-nineties.

About this blog - This blog is expected to be focused and have a short life because its primary mission is to demonstrate how things can go wrong when public scrutiny is not applied to the activities of a public body. To accomplish this, we have chosen a subject that many are familiar with - travel expense claims paid for from taxpayer funds.

In future postings I will provide information gathered under the Nova Scotia Government's Freedom of Information provisions respecting the travel expense claims of SWSDA's CEO from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 (147 pages of material). It is important that the reader note the dates involved here, for we will come back to them in one of our future blogs - this time period - and these dates are signficant.

In undertaking this information-sharing, it is my intention to raise questions and highlight what I believe are issues, while soliciting the views of readers. This is meant to be civil discourse about a public accountability issue affecting every taxpayer in the 9 municipalities that provide core funding to SWSDA.

I invite you to share this blog and your thoughts with others on the subject of the need for transparency in the affairs of government bodies, conducting public business with public funds.