Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

[Logitack]

I'm not condoning reckless overspending, but in the same breath, I won't allow myself to get all worked up over incomplete data, presented by a blogger with an agenda.

yes because, afterall, he is a conservative right winger holding a ring wing party to account for their deception and mismanagement, we cant have that... only right wingers with an agenda that thinks the liberal lies, deceit, fiscal mismanagement, dirty tricks and malfeasance must be applauded and endorsed!

[grammafreddy]

yes because, afterall, he is a conservative right winger holding a ring wing party to account for their deception and mismanagement, we cant have that... only right wingers with an agenda that thinks the liberal lies, deceit, fiscal mismanagement, dirty tricks and malfeasance must be applauded and endorsed!

Is it okay for the NDP to do the same? Will the left-leaners be doing any screaming? Have they in the past when dishonest, unscrupulous things were done by that party?

[Smurf]

I agree with you. The whole works of them should be put under a microscope and watched right down to the finest detail. I have to watch my money why shouldn't they have to watch ours.

[797hauler]

I agree with you. The whole works of them should be put under a microscope and watched right down to the finest detail. I have to watch my money why shouldn't they have to watch ours.

now that all the expense accounts have to be posted online, has anybody heard of an orginization that will moniter these spending accounts?

[Captain Awesome]

now that all the expense accounts have to be posted online, has anybody heard of an orginization that will moniter these spending accounts?

You mean, another govt agency to monitor govt spending?

[grammafreddy]

now that all the expense accounts have to be posted online,

Link to these online expense accounts, please?

[797hauler]

Link to these online expense accounts, please?

Sorry GF, this was only alberta. I thought it was canada wide, alberta has to post spending online for the public to view. think BC should follow in the steps of alberta on this one..

heres a link http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/05 ... e-redford/

[maple leaf]

B.C. MLAs Show Taxpayers Disrespect by Breaking Word on Expenses
Every time B.C. taxpayers think MLAs will put their expenses out, they pull them back in.

In August, rocked by public pressure and a scathing report from the Auditor General on their bookkeeping, B.C. MLAs promised to finally make their spending open and transparent. Speaker Bill Barisoff made the most significant and specific vow: "Anybody wanting to look at that [MLA expenses] will be able to see receipts," he said.

That historic commitment to accountability lasted barely two months and didn’t result in a single receipt being produced for the public to look at.

Last week, the Legislative Assembly Management Committee, chaired by Barisoff and made up of both Liberal and NDP MLAs, agreed to post quarterly expense reports online – but continue to withhold actual receipts, ensuring the public is kept in the dark on where public money is actually going.

For two parties who are at each other’s throats on nearly every issue facing this province, it is astounding that the Liberals and NDP continue to walk in lockstep when it comes to hiding these receipts.

Posting receipts is the new standard for political accountability. Toronto mayor and councillors, managing a budget roughly half B.C.’s, have been posting receipts online for years. Alberta Premier Alison Redford recently announced that her government will post expense receipts online for 400 senior politicians and staff, sparking opposition MLAs to follow suit.

The B.C. backtrack is another example of politicians doing the bare minimum to try and deflect public scrutiny. It’s a model started by the cabinet, who tout the fact they release monthly travel expenses – but don’t explain how many trips occurred, where they went, why they went there, who accompanied them or what they actually spent our money on.

The information is virtually useless without context, and politicians know it. Yet they wonder why there has been such a breakdown in trust between taxpayers and the people who purportedly serve them in public office.

It’s simple, really. Clinging to secrecy raises suspicions among taxpayers that our money is being spent in a way that MLAs would rather keep hidden. Why else would they refuse to produce receipts and invoices for observers to check?

There are legitimate items that must be addressed, no doubt. The Information and Privacy Commissioner’s concerns that MLA staff salaries shouldn’t be made public does not square with the fact that literally thousands of public employees have their pay disclosed every year. Still, the issue needs to be dealt with in dialogue with both the Commissioner and the staff. But that certainly doesn’t prevent other spending and receipts from being posted online.

Scanning receipts and getting the database up and running – or, more precisely, training staff to do the work – takes time and will cost taxpayers some money. However, transparency is money well spent, and certainly better spent on this than the millions spent on the Pacific Carbon Trust, government ads, JobFest or other wasteful spending.

None of these concerns are deal breakers when it comes to transparency. They’re just convenient excuses to back away from the commitment to put receipts online.

In next spring’s election campaign, when party platforms will no doubt trumpet great claims and promises about openness and accountability, taxpayers would do well to remember that both the B.C. Liberals and NDP have failed the transparency test.


By: Jordan Bateman
http://taxpayer.com/british-columbia/bc ... d-expenses

[Alvis]

Is it okay for the NDP to do the same? Will the left-leaners be doing any screaming? Have they in the past when dishonest, unscrupulous things were done by that party?

Link to this information please.

[grammafreddy]

There's no link - it's a question based on your comment before it ....

yes because, afterall, he is a conservative right winger holding a ring wing party to account for their deception and mismanagement, we cant have that... only right wingers with an agenda that thinks the liberal lies, deceit, fiscal mismanagement, dirty tricks and malfeasance must be applauded and endorsed!

[Alvis]

There's no link - it's a question based on your comment before it ....

So...you're flat out making stuff up? I get it.

[Static]

I don't think she has done anything wrong. Perhaps she was entertaining other delegates at the convention/meetings. Do you really want you representatives to stay in a Travel Lodge and eat a t McDonalds?

[keith1612]

So...you're flat out making stuff up? I get it.

this would sort of cover it!!

Last week, the Legislative Assembly Management Committee, chaired by Barisoff and made up of both Liberal and NDP MLAs, agreed to post quarterly expense reports online – but continue to withhold actual receipts, ensuring the public is kept in the dark on where public money is actually going.

i dont think either party is willing to be fully honest on personal spending with taxpayer money.

[keith1612]

I don't think she has done anything wrong. Perhaps she was entertaining other delegates at the convention/meetings. Do you really want you representatives to stay in a Travel Lodge and eat a t McDonalds?

honestly YES.
give them a daily $50 food allowance and a daily $120 hotel allowance when its needed and let them pay for extra's.
the government expects welfare and EI recipients to live off peanuts and then they go out for lavish lunches with expensive bottles of wine on our dime.
wean them away from the trough and teach them this is unacceptable with todays economy.
christy could use a few more salads and less steak by the look of it anyway.

[Static]

Serious Keith? You clearly have never travelled. If you have you would realize that $120 room and $50 food budget is a joke.