A recent resolution by Stirling-Rawdon Council asking that the public sector Sunshine List’s threshold of $100,000 be increased by adjusting it for inflation has attracted some major media attention.
Stirling-Rawdon Mayor Bob Mullin has been interviewed by both the CBC and an Ottawa radio station.
Ontario’s Public Sector Disclosure Act, or Sunshine List, was created 28 years ago and Mullin says $100,000 isn’t what it used to be.
“If it were to be corrected for inflation it would now be $176,000 and I (as mayor) would have nobody on the list instead of having half a dozen.”
Mullin says the few people on a smaller municipality’s Sunshine List receive unnecessary attention because of their small populations, calling it almost an invasion of privacy.
Although only circulated in late August, Stirling-Rawdon’s motion has received support from many other municipalities.
The provincial government says it has no intention of adjusting the list for inflation saying $100,000 is still a significant amount of money for much of the population.
