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News
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Foote concerned about government's secrecy and lack of
research into new call centre company June 15, 2005
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Judy Foote, MHA for Grand Bank District and Opposition Critic for the
Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, says while she is
pleased that a call centre has been attracted to Mount Pearl creating 600
new jobs, she has concerns that government is refusing to tell what
subsidies have been given to the company and the lack of research Minister
Dunderdale completed before agreeing to pay taxpayer dollars to the company. "It is very encouraging when new employment is created in this province," said Ms. Foote. "However, I am concerned that government is refusing to tell the people of the province how much of their money is subsidizing this operation. In the past, the amount of public money used to subsidize each new call centre in the province was made public. It is not acceptable to keep this information secret. It is the people’s money and they have a right to know how much of their taxpayer dollars are actually being spent to create these jobs. "It also concerns me greatly that obviously Minister Dunderdale did no research into this company before granting these subsidies. Media reports have identified lawsuits that are pending against Teletech in the United States relating to labour problems. A simple search on the internet would have identified these concerns, yet Minister Dunderdale said she knew nothing about these lawsuits. This government must be more diligent in being accountable to the people of the province for their decisions. "This is another example of a government that is not open, not transparent, nor accountable. If this government wants to be open, transparent and accountable they should start by releasing the taxpayer subsidy that will be paid to this company. This information should be released immediately. "Also, similar to the fiasco surrounding the Sino Corporation and their proposal to develop the Lower Churchill, this government seems to be flying by the seat of its pants without doing any research on companies they are encouraging to set up business in the province. While Teletech is a well-established company, more diligence is needed to ensure that the interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are protected."
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