The exterior of Saint John City Hall is pictured in this file photo. (Staff photo)
A much anticipated report on the financial future of Saint John is delayed yet again, after a confusing discussion at council Monday night.
The city, which has been in possession of the report for an undisclosed amount of time, was under the impression they could not release the findings until given the go ahead by the province.
The province says as soon as that report left cabinet three weeks ago, it was council’s decision on when to release the findings.
The report—titled A Three Part Plan Related To Sustainability—contains months of research from a working group made up of municipal and provincial employees, who were tasked with finding ways to help save a debt-ridden Saint John.
Councillor David Hickey says key information about the document was misleading.
“It was informed by us, by our city solicitor, that this document was privileged information. The biggest thing for me is that I think it might have been a simple miscommunication on to who was to release it. It’s their document to release, not ours,” he said.
From my desk – here’s the document Common Council was provided pic.twitter.com/F6LYk5LSj7
— David Hickey (@DavidHickeyNB) July 8, 2019
Mayor Don Darling agrees, and says council was simply being careful with the confidential information.
“Throughout this process we were reminded regularly that this was privileged information, that we were not to share the details of that, and you know, when your lawyer says you should cross t’s and dot i’s, that’s what we’re doing,” he said in an interview.
Darling says he’s looking forward to releasing the report.
“There’s been a tremendous amount of work that’s gone into the report over a long period of time. There’s been lots of speculation about whats in and whats not in and so forth, and so of course I’m looking forward to putting that all on the table and having a good discussion about it and moving forward,” he said.
The report is expected to be released as early as this week, when a special meeting of council will be held.
