PC culture of entitlement all-pervasive.
When you hear PC government MLAs talk about dearly respecting taxpayers’ money as though it were their own, they mean it… it’s theirs!
In the recent Auditor General’s report, there were more calls for cleaning up government insider contracts when Rod Love and Kelley Charlebois each billed the government for thousands of dollars worth of “verbal advice.”
Tory MLAs Cindy Ady and Barry McFarland received more than $19,000 for a non-existent job and then had the nerve to tell the public that they are not accountable to anyone.
Meanwhile, retiring MLA Gary Mar, retiring Calgary-North Hill MLA Richard Magnus, and soon-to-leave MLA Len Webber recently jetted to Germany on a publicly funded trip to learn how to become a “better legislator.” This morally corrupt junket will cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.
And for retiring MLAs, the golden handshake continues… a fat pension and maybe a new job working for “an old friend they met along the way…”
In the early 1990s, retiring MLAs received a gold-plated pension plan. It was scrapped. Currently, “transition allowances and RRSP contributions” cost taxpayers more than the “Plan B” (no plan, really) that was in place from 1993 to 2001.
How’s your pension plan?
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Lord Acton’s words from 1887 still ring true in Alberta politics.
Why Alberta Liberal policy gets a better grade:
Government honesty, accountability and transparency aren’t just abstract ideals - they protect Albertans and ensure that their tax dollars are being used honestly and effectively.
Alberta is one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the world, but prosperity without transparent, accountable, truly democratic government isn’t prosperity at all. Alberta has no lobbyist registry, no fixed election dates, no all-party policy committees, and almost no meaningful legislative review of public spending. When democracy is weak and secretive, when the primary purpose of government is to be re-elected, the province’s wealth is less likely to serve the public interest.
If our prosperity is to serve the citizens, then we, the citizens, must take charge. To move Alberta forward, the Alberta Liberals are committed to exploring a number of ideas that will empower Albertans and make our democracy more open, more accountable, more effective, and more representative, including:
• legislative renewal • fixed election dates
• all-party committees • donation limits
Solutions: Read more...
