So the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (let’s just call them ‘Friends’) are a little upset with us for upturning some of their financial dealings with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). We sort of expected that.

In their response we were delighted to read that contrary what we had been told by the CBC, “All members of the Friends’ Steering Committee gave explicit written permission to the CBC to release the requested information.”

This new information made our day, as we therefore expect the CBC to provide us with the 85 redacted pages from the Access to Information (ATI) documents.

We were quick to get on the phone with the CBC’s ATI department today to find out if we had been incorrectly informed, or to find out when we can receive the redacted information.

The CBC assured us that, “Names not included in the received documents did not give clear consent for disclosure.” In short, the CBC required explicit consent to disclose these people’s financial dealings, and did not receive it from everyone, contrary to what our Friends said. At least, the CBC doesn’t think that it did.

In short, somebody has some splainin’ to do. There are therefore three foreseen possibilities:

1)   As Friends claim, they all did give consent, but the CBC lost the letters and will provide us with the 85 pages that are currently redacted;

2)   As Friends’ claim, they all did give consent, but four of the letters were simultaneously lost in the mail. They can easily reprint the letters and send them to the CBC so that they can provide us with the information that is currently blanked-out; or

3)   If in fact consent was not given – which would be somewhat at odds with statements on the Friends’ website – then they surely won’t want to be spreading terminological inexactitudes and will wish to rectify this. That would happen by either explaining why they continue to refuse consent, or rectify this by finally giving it.

When we asked the CBC about the one sample letter of consent provided by the Friends, the CBC responded that there was confusion surrounding another Ian Morrison by the same name, and promised to promptly investigate the matter.

We really hate to come between friends, but we love Access to Information. The CBC and the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting need to work this consent thing out and provide the missing 85 pages.

-$4,752 for a flight to Edmonton and back

-$3,167 for a flight to Boston  and back to attend a “seafood show”

Peter’s Excellent Adventure: Part II (Edmonton)

Defence Minister Peter Mackay spent $4,752 for two one-way plane tickets to go to the 2010 Grey Cup in Edmonton.

Using Access to Information requests, the CTF found that the Minister’s Toronto-to-Edmonton ticket alone cost $2,352 while his Edmonton-Toronto ticket cost $2,340. These sky-high ticket prices are likely due to purchasing Executive Class tickets with maximum flexibility (fully-refundable) and/or at the last minute.

It’s one thing for, say, the Minister of Environment to have to make last minute plans to fly across the country to deal with a pipeline break or oil spill and not know when they would be able to return.  In this hypothetical situation it would make sense to book fully-refundable, Executive Class plane tickets.

Considering that the Minster has gone to the Grey Cup to more than once since 2007, these reasons do not hold much water.  The date and location for the 2010 Grey Cup would have been known years – yes, literally – years in advance.

The next Grey Cup is scheduled for November 25, 2012 in Toronto, so DND can save the extra costs and book a ticket now. Or maybe they can even wait until a couple of weeks before and book the non-refundable Executive Class seats for a third-to-a-half of the costs.  In fact, DND may as well book their tickets for the November 24, 2013 Grey Cup in Regina now as well.

A quick search for a return Toronto-Edmonton Executive class flight on that day would cost approximately $2,687, or $1,344 one-way. Booked in advance, the cost of the Grey Cup visit would be cut nearly in half.

If there is one redeemable factor in this, it is that the Minister was significantly more frugal in his choice of hotels in Edmonton than he was in Munich and Istanbul.  His Edmonton hotel bill came to $624 for three nights, or $208 per night (albeit there are no nicer hotels in Edmonton than the Hotel MacDonald).

Minister Mackay would hardly be the first politician or VIP to go to the Grey Cup on a publicly funded trip, but two $2,300+ plane tickets from Toronto to Edmonton speak for themselves.

You can view a detailed backgrounder of the CTF’s research HERE.

Peter’s Excellent Adventure: Part III (Boston)

Similarly, Minster Mackay spent $3,167 for a short flight from Ottawa to Boston to attend a “seafood show.” Again, an Executive, non-refundable flight could have been purchased – in advance – for a total of $1,374, or $687 each. Again, Minister Mackay regularly attends this event, although the usefulness of a senior Canadian minister attending a “seafood show” is even more debatable than attending the Grey Cup.

The details of these flights can be found on pages 6 and 7 of this Access to Information document.

A detailed backgrounder on both of these flights can be found HERE.