CBC News Wednesday, May 26, 2010
B.C. taxpayers may soon be able to put provincial MLAs' expenses under the microscope, following criticism and a demand for increased scrutiny of the expenses racked up by federal politicians. The province's annual public accounts list total figures for MLA salaries and expenses, including travel, but there is no detailed breakdown.
B.C. Conservative MP Russ Hiebert declared expenses of $637,093 for the 2008-09 fiscal year, the second-highest expenses among all members of the federal House during that period. The highest — about $781,000 — were submitted by Manitoba Conservative MP Steven Fletcher, who attributed $308,000 of that total to special expenses associated with being a quadriplegic.
B.C. Liberal house leader Mike de Jong says he's prepared to raise the issue of greater transparency of MLA expenses in light of the controversy among his federal counterparts. "I think there is a desire on the part of people across the country to see in greater detail what is spent by their elected officials," de Jong said Tuesday. "Everything that is spent in these [legislative] buildings, whether it is by ministries, ministers or MLAs, it is public money and people expect to be able to see and judge how that money is being spent." B.C. NDP house leader Mike Farnworth says he has no problem opening the books."There's information that used to be online and was certainly published in the blue book on the expenses for each MLA," Farnworth said. "I don't see why we shouldn't bring that back." Both house leaders said they are prepared to discuss the issue at a meeting of the legislative assembly's management committee. But that's a body that meets in strictest confidence and it's not clear when the discussion will take place.
Hiebert, MP for South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale, defended his high expenses as part of the cost of keeping his family together. More than $214,000 of his total was claimed for travel, with much of that going to trips made by his wife and two children to and from Ottawa, an allowable expense for MPs. He said he and his wife are committed to keeping the family together. "They're with me in Ottawa when Parliament is in session and that's increased our travel expenses. Hiebert also spent more than $81,000 on printing mailouts to his constituents, an amount that was more than twice the printing bills of the two Conservative MPs in his neighbouring ridings and more than 10 times fellow B.C. Tory MP John Cummins's printing expenses.
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City of Vernon's Council remuneration, Expense Totals and details were posted online as part of the Finance committee's agenda package.
(p.20-22)
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