Waterloo wants region releasing private documents before it signs off on LRT deal
Posted Sep 12, 2014 07:16:21 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It may slowdown the building of Waterloo Region’s Light Rail Transit.
The City of Waterloo has given the region an ultimatum before it signs an agreement between the region and GrandLinq, the private company in charge of building the LRT.
The city voted to approve the deal, but, before it signs off, it wants information, kept private in the original document, released to the public.
Waterloo Councillor Karen Scian says the contract takes care of a number of land transactions in uptown Waterloo linked to the LRT.
“Attached to that document there were a significant number of pages of redacted schedules and bits and pieces.”
Scian says they’ve given the region until November 1st.
“We felt that was a reasonable approach of at least a month and a half of good conversations to take place and negotiations to take place,” says Scian. “I think that it’s in everyone’s best interest that this information is released to the public.”
She understands the region and GrandLinq is still negotiating to determine what should and shouldn’t be made public.
“However it was not clear to us, how any of the items that were included fit into that scenario. We just did not feel comfortable maintaining that, I guess shroud, of secrecy for another level of government or corporation,” says Scian.
She says it’s a matter of figuring out where the line is when it comes to this transparency issue.
Meantime, Regional Councillor Jim Wideman says when dealing with a private corporation – namely GrandLinq – some matters need to be kept private for proprietary and legal reasons.
He tells 570 News they have been working for weeks to release the information and one of the schedules was posted on the Region’s website Friday morning.
“People can go on there now and see that, the other two documents we are continuing to work with GrandLinq on, and hopeful they will be released very very shortly.”
Wideman adds the Region has always been very transparent and wants to get this information out to the public when they feel they can.
