2010/G20 and G8 Budget/Budget numbers are transparently being released/CBC Behind the numbers The G8/G20 expenses debate, is it really about transparency

CBC Behind the numbers The G8/G20 expenses debate, is it really about transparency?

Link	http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/09/behind-the-numbers-the-g8g20-expenses-debate-is-it-really-about-transparency.html
Source	cbc.ca
Dates	2010-09-24

Project	2010/G20 and G8 Budget
Topic	2010/G20 and G8 Budget/Budget numbers are transparently being released
Position	Refutes

 | 

Add subject »

What we have recorded to date is about a quarter of a billion dollars. In other words, a fraction of the total bill, which we're told is comprised mostly of security costs born by the RCMP and CSIS. Because of security concerns with those organizations, a detailed breakdown of the remaining costs may never come. If it does, the information, as it was this summer when foreign affairs first released its costs, will be heavily censored.

This is not transparency.

If the departments such as foreign affairs, public works and public safety were truly transparent, they would post the summit expenses on their websites, just like they do for contracts of more than $10,000. The data should also be posted as searchable databases, allowing Canadians to determine, for instance, how many contracts are sole-sourced compared to competitive, or which companies or consultants received the most money, and how was that money spent.