Vancouver’s mayor is responding to concerns over apparent secrecy surrounding a letter of intent the City of Vancouver signed with Shanghai.
The memorandum says that Vancouver and Shanghai will support more economic trade between the two cities and collaborate on innovation.
It was signed on Mayor Gregor Robertson’s trip to China early this month, however, until now it wasn’t released publicly.
That’s despite an attempted Freedom of Information request from independent journalist Bob Mackin.
The mayor said the memo is now being released, and blaming the situation on a communication error.
“I’m not sure where the glitch was there,” he said.
“I don’t know why it wasn’t released at the same time as it was in Shanghai. I mean I certainly talked about it. I don’t know what the issue was about the actual memorandum not being released here in Vancouver.”
Robertson went on to say that the memo does not contain anything controversial or particularly secretive.
“There isn’t anything untoward there. It’s very straightforward, very simple and good news for our city and Shanghai working together.”
Under the letter of intent, Vancouver and Shanghai agreed to boost collaboration in a number of areas, including technology, environmental protection, healthcare, tourism, and urban administration.