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“I find it difficult to believe that knowing overall dollar values of what are in our reserve funds (is) actually going to have that kind of a commercial impact on four different projects,” said an exasperated Coun. Peter Demong.

“I’m just really disappointed that this is as much information as we can actually give.”

Council ultimately elected to put off the discussion, butnot before concerns were raised about how tightly the city was controlling financial information about the four projects.

According to Coun. Evan Woolley, council members weren’t permitted to keep copies of financial information presented in closed session on March 4, and could only view the information before it was taken away again by city staff — in part, Woolley conceded, due to concerns over leaks.

But Woolley also said the tight control of information doesn’t conform to past practice, including previous confidential discussions around the Green Line. He also hinted that he believed some council members have more access to financial information about certain projects than others.

“I still don’t understand how we’re able to move hundreds of millions of dollars without having solid, transparent financial reporting on that,” Woolley said.

Coun. Jeromy Farkas echoed Woolley’s view, calling it a “double standard” in confidentiality.

“At a minimum, Calgarians deserve to know hard numbers in terms of what is going to be our financial position as a result of adopting this financial strategy,” Farkas said.