PMO won't say how many staff earn $150K, citing privacy [View all]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pmo-won-t-say-how-many-staff-earn-150k-citing-privacy-1.2563891

The hypocritical double standard is appalling ... as is most anything associated with the Harper government. Apparently government "transparency" is a lot more opaque than transparency requirements for other groups.

On the one hand, the PMO won't divulge the salaries of individuals directly paid and supposedly accountable to taxpayers; yet on the other hand, they're requiring First Nations to publish online, accessible to anyone, financial information that is not related to public, taxpayer dollars.

While some First Nations said they have no problem sharing some financial information publicly, they don't believe they should have to make that information available to the general public.

"The monies that we're talking about are not public funds, they're not taxpayers' dollars," said Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus, who was in Saskatoon for the hearings. "This is why we're adamant that this relationship is between the federal government, ourselves and our own citizens."

"The real story starts with asking why the Harper government felt it needed to create and unilaterally push a transparency law on indigenous communities who are already encumbered by the most punitive and stringent reporting requirements and standards of accountability under Canadian fiscal policy," Grand Chief Derek Nepinak said in an email.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/first-nations-risk-losing-funding-if-they-fail-to-file-financial-info-by-midnight-1.3207867