Can't touch this: TransLink reports won't be public

Lower Mainland taxpayers will likely have to file time-consuming Freedom of Information requests in order to get their hands on reports used by TransLink board members to make their decisions, even though the information was publicly available just last year.

Board members read the reports before voting on key transit issues; everything from fare hikes to major bus expansions can be covered. But the reports haven't been publicly available since the new unelected board took control over TransLink from local politicians this year in a move mandated by the province.

"You can ask. If it's available we'll provide it," said TransLink media relations manager Peter Louwe. "If it's not, then you're going to have to FOI it."

Louwe said the new board's policies differed from the old public board.

“The policy is, from the new corporate board, to not release the detailed reports,” he said. “They want to keep their cards close to the vest. They're a private board and they're operating a little differently.”

But for NDP transportation critic Maurine Karagianis, it's another example of the board shutting out the public.

“It's more of this secrecy and lack of accountability to the taxpayers,” Karagianis said. “They're not a private corporation. They are a publicly owned entity and they are publicly run. At the end of the day, they need to be accountable to the public.”

The board's deliberations and debates are closed to the public. Instead, a short summary of its decisions is released after each meeting.

A report and decision on TransLink's controversial idea for a $1.5-billion "real estate program," for example, is reduced to the following blurb in a two-page summary of May's board meeting:

"Strategic Real Estate Program
The board provided direction on the development of a real estate strategy and delegated authority to approve acquisitions and dispositions of properties within the approved budget."

Very informative.