The City of Toronto wanted to charge an outrageous fee to
provide an electronic map of downtown Toronto (showing blocks, building
outlines - 2D), for something that was available in hard copy, over the
counter.
The fee was in the many thousands of dollars.  This was circa 1995.  It was
to be used in a presentation to demonstrate certain facilities in proximity
to a downtown high-rise office tower.  My client was in the final running
of attracting a major tenant from new York to Toronto.  My client felt as I
did, that this was a form of government robbery.  The tenant considered this
action by the City of Toronto as a rather negative approach.
They selected elsewhere.

At URISA national, international and provincial meetings this subject has
been discussed over and over again.  Bottom line is that government
goe-projects have been paid for through taxation, why should the public have
to pay over and over again.
Some cities in the US give away on CD their geo-data, for free.  They know
the pay back.
The current approach of charging for such data actually discourages
analytical assessment and presentation, thus putting a variety of Canadian
entities at a disadvantage when competing against those who receive the same
for free.
Take a look at how you can get US census data, in geo-formats, the quality
and detail, at minimal costs.

Garry McGonigal
Corporate Environment Consultants
1748 Hebert St., Tecumseh, Ont.  N8N 4G2
(519)735-9449
cecwin@mnsi.net