VANCOUVER, BC: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on TransLink to disclose how much it spent in legal fees to prosecute Langara College student Inna Danylyuk for fare evasion.

A Freedom of Information request by the CTF for the legal bills was rejected last week by TransLink, which cited “solicitor-client privilege” as its reason to hide the costs from the public.

“TransLink can, and should, waive its solicitor-client confidentiality and tell taxpayers how much public money they blew on this case,” said Jordan Bateman, the CTF’s B.C. Director. “Governments often disclose legal costs to taxpayers once a case has wrapped up. Ten days ago, the provincial government waived its privilege and announced it spent $2.6 million on legal fees during its 15-year court fight with the BC Teachers’ Federation. TransLink has no excuse to not ’fess up.”

Nearly four years ago, Danylyuk accidentally grabbed her boyfriend’s transit pass instead of her own. The two passes are identical, except for a small signature on the reverse side. She was given a $173 fare evasion ticket by Transit Police, despite pleading her case to the officer. A TransLink reviewer and arbitrator also refused to waive the fine.

Danylyuk went to provincial court and won. That judge lashed TransLink, saying the “public is offended when its resources are misused.” But TransLink appealed to the BC Supreme Court, which upheld the fine in December 2016.

“We were curious how much money TransLink paid its lawyers to chase down this young student’s questionable $173 fine,” said Bateman. “So we filed the Freedom of Information request – but TransLink wants to keep the amount it spent secret. We’re betting it’s several hundred times the original $173 ticket.”

The FOI rejection letter arrived a day after TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond called a news conference to launch the agency’s so-called accountability centre.

“When it comes to true accountability, TransLink still has a long way to go,” said Bateman. “TransLink is still way too much talk, and not enough walk, on transparency.”