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So why did Hydro stop providing the breakdown after 19 years? They say it came to their attention they may have been violating the province’s privacy laws by providing that level of detail. Legally, they were providing too much information.

“Following the release of the 2015 Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Report, we were contacted by legal counsel representing another public body asking why we included a breakdown of compensation that included overtime, other earnings and benefits as well as salary,” wrote Owen.

“Based on this conversation and at the time a report by the Manitoba Ombudsman on privacy rights, our legal counsel made a determination that including a breakdown of compensation that included overtime, other earnings and benefits as well as salary could be a breach of 17(2) of The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.”

So that was the end of that. Ironically, the other public body that wanted to know why Hydro was releasing all that detail was the city of Winnipeg, the same body that’s been lobbying the Pallister government to change the compensation disclosure law to allow for the release of greater detail.

So far, the province has denied that request. In a letter written by Finance Minister Cameron Friesen released by the city last week, Friesen said forcing public bodies to provide that level of detail “would be a substantial administrative and expensive burden on many entities.”

It didn’t seem to be a problem for Hydro all those years and a perusal of its 2015 compensation report reveals some pretty stunning levels of overtime the public has a right to know about.

The argument that it’s too much of a cost or burden for some public bodies to provide that breakdown is nonsense. Hydro did it for 19 years and there’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the standard for all public bodies.

The public has a right to know how their money is being spent.