Saint John councillor Greg Norton calls for sunshine list
The public online list would disclose how much city employees make along with their taxable benefits
A Saint John city councillor says residents should have a clearer picture of where their tax money is going.
Councillor Greg Norton is putting forward a motion before common council to create a sunshine list.
The public online list would disclose how much city employees make along with their taxable benefits.
Norton says it’s time for Saint John to catch up with other municipalities across Canada that have sunshine lists.
“And to provide more information on that largest expense, which is really about 80 per cent of our budget, it's no longer just a luxury, it's certainly a right for citizens to have that information," said Norton.
The motion will be brought before council on Monday and specifically urges the Saint John Police Commission to adopt a similar policy.
The head of the city’s police commission says he's all for transparency, but he says he thinks this is just another attack in a long ongoing dispute between the city and the police force. The commission was recently under fire for its high overtime costs.
"I think we all felt that singling out the police department was not the correct thing to do right now," said Jonathan Franklin.