Your Money in Plain Sight

Transparency at City Hall

Your money, in plain sight.

By Alex Lawson

You can look up the salary of any Ontario public servant making over $100,000. The province has published that list every year since 1996, and the sky never fell.

Now try to find out what the city is paying for the work happening on your own street.

To be fair to the city, it does publish its contract awards. After the fact. Twice a year. In a long PDF, listed department by department, purchase order by purchase order. Organized for the filing cabinet, not the taxpayer.

Nothing about it is live. Nothing about it is searchable. Nothing about it is written for the person paying the bill.

Salaries public since
1996
Ontario’s Sunshine List has published every public-sector salary over $100,000 for three decades.
Contract awards
2x a year
How often Ottawa publishes them today. In a long PDF, after the fact.
Disclosed today
$25K+
Only awards above this amount appear in the city’s semi-annual reports.

This isn’t a lecture about honesty. It’s about price.

I’m not accusing anybody of hiding anything. I’m telling you what open books do to a bid.

When every company that wants city work can see what the last job cost, the next bid comes in sharper. When prices live in the dark, the taxpayer pays for the dark. Open prices force competitive bids. Transparency isn’t a lecture. It’s how you get a better deal.

I’ve priced work my whole career. Nobody pads a quote when they know the customer can see the going rate.

The commitment
01
A live, searchable, plain-language contracts list.
Who got the work, what we’re paying, and when it’s due, in words a taxpayer can read. Every contract, with no minimum dollar amount. Updated as work is awarded, not in six-month batches.
02
Consultants and consultations included.
The studies, the reviews, and the outside advice go on the list too. What it cost, who got paid, and whether it’s actually working.
03
Open procurement, so more companies can bid.
More open bidding means more bidders, and more bidders means sharper prices. That’s not ideology. That’s how every job I’ve ever priced has worked.
Open prices force competitive bids. Transparency isn’t a lecture. It’s how you get a better deal.
Alex Lawson
Builder, not politician

We’ve got a lot of work to do.

Ottawa deserves better.

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