In an article in your newspaper on October 8, 2006, as President of the Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia I warned that secrecy could cause the Commonwealth Games Committee to lose public support. Two years later this view is finally confirmed in in an independent review conducted by Canada's Public Policy Forum which concluded "Haligonians were not regularly informed of the bid's progress, heightening the perception that the process was not transparent and, in turn, weakening public support for the bid."

Will we ever learn secrecy is bad policy!

Darce Fardy
President
Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia
(902) 422-1481
darce@eastlink.ca
www.nsrighttoknow.ca

Bid report bang on — Halifax councillors

By JENNIFER STEWART Staff Reporter
Sun. Jul 6 - 8:09 PM

A handful of municipal councillors feel the findings of an independent
review of Halifax's failed 2014 Commonwealth Games bid are bang on.

The councillors that The Chronicle Herald spoke to Saturday admitted
that they haven't had a chance to read the entire report, which was
released to the public Friday. But they said everything they have
heard so far backs up their earlier complaints about the bid
process...

The nine-page report highlights a number of problems with Halifax's
$1.7-billion bid, primarily its lack of transparency.

Selected Quotes:

"We're supposed to be the guardians of the public purse, yet nobody
would tell us anything."
- Coun. Andrew Younger (East Dartmouth-The Lakes)

"Something that's handled like that, to me, is doomed to failure,"
- Coun. Gloria McCluskey

"Everybody was sworn to secrecy. "That's the biggest mistake I made
was agreeing to that going the way it went."...
- Coun. Gloria McCluskey

"Secrecy and lack of transparency . . . it just breeds distrust and
discontent. Whereas if you put everything above board, people have the
opportunity to not only react but to perhaps react in a positive way."
- Coun. Sheila Fougere (Connaught-Quinpool)

full article
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1066076.html