Councilman Files FOI Request To Make Information Public

A Windsor, Ontario, Canada, City Councilman has filed a Freedom of Information request in an attempt to gain the release of a lease agreement between Windsor Airport and Premier Aviation. While Councilman Alan Halberstadt said he knows how much rent the company pays, he thinks it should be disclosed to the general public, which he is currently not allowed to do.

The city denied Halberstadt's initial request. City clerk Valerie Critchley wrote in a letter that, after consultation with an unnamed third party, she would not disclose how much rent Premier pays to the airport. An appeal is currently being reviewed by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, according to a report appearing in the Windsor Star.

Premier recently opened an MRO facility at Windsor Airport that reportedly cost taxpayers $23 million (Canadian). That figure included some $18 million in incentives from the city. Halberstadt said that the company does not pay property tax "because it's on airport lands," but his constituents have been asking how much the company pays in rent.

Mayor Eddie Francis said Halberstadt is creating controversy where none needs to be. He has said publicly that the rent is "nominal," but that the council did not agree to the terms of the deal so that the city could collect rent. He said Premier is the first company "in ages" to be wooed away from Quebec to start a new business in Windsor, and that was the basis for the deal.

Premier projected that the MRO would create 200 new jobs in Windsor in the first two years of its operation, and up to 500 jobs over seven years.

FMI: www.citywindsor.ca