The CBC has refused – as usual – to disclose the expenses of eco-advocacy tycoon David Suzuki. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) filed an Access to Information (ATI) request for the business expenses of Dr. Suzuki with the intention of examining his billing taxpayers for entertainment, hospitality, receptions and travel. By refusing to disclose even a single spending item in its 83 pages of redacted documents, the CBC has shielded him from public accountability.

More importantly than accountability for Dr. Suzuki’s expenses on the public dime is the continued refusal of the CBC to disclose information that the public has a right to.

In November of last year, the CBC lost its final court battle to keep itself effectively exempt from the Access to Information Act. After that decisive and unanimous ruling, the CBC vowed to respect the Act and to allow the Information Commissioner to be the arbiter in cases of dispute (of which the CTF has a few).

Until then, the CBC used a ‘generous’ interpretation of Section 68.1 of the ATI Act to shield itself from virtually any public accountability. This section protects documents from release that “relate to its journalistic, creative or programming activities.” The Federal Court of Appeal also ruled that while this clause “is not, shall we say, a model of clarity,” it does not give them a blanket exemption from accountability.

Among the many exemptions claimed by the CBC was – as expected – Section 68.1. How the public knowing about how much David Suzuki spends (hypothetically) on dinners compromises the “journalistic, creative or programming activities” of the CBC is beyond us. We weren’t asking to know what Dr. Suzuki’s carbon footprint is from flying around the world, but how much he billed taxpayers for doing it.

Unfortunately, it seems that while the CBC has buckled at least somewhat after its defeat in the Federal Court of Appeal, it has not yet embraced the ruling culturally.

The CTF has filed an appeal with the Information Commissioner to force the CBC to disclose the documents.

While we’re at it, maybe we should find out what his carbon footprint is.

By: Derek Fildebrandt
Posted: February 22, 2012
Topic: Federal

Join Us   |   Donate