EDMONTON, AB: After the NDP forced through an amendment to have Elections Alberta interfere in the independent nomination process of political parties, Wildrose is calling on the NDP government to demonstrate a commitment to disclosure and transparency by making the names of their provincial executive and provincial council public.
The amendment opposed by all the opposition parties, would result in an extra $400,000 in annual spending at Elections Alberta to monitor nomination spending and donations, even though the NDP failed to provide a single example of a problem or abuse in this area. The amendment as passed would require expense and contribution filings for acclaimed and non-acclaimed candidates for every political party in the province. Contributions to nomination contestants are not tax deductible.
Lorne Dach, the NDP MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark, said the amendment was necessary to uphold the public’s trust and to let them see what is happening inside political parties, but the NDP party continues to hide the list of their party’s own provincial executive and provincial council.
“If the NDP government believes they have the right to interfere in the independent nomination processes of political parties under the guise of transparency, they should at the very least not hide their party’s executive members from public disclosure,” Wildrose Democracy & Accountability Shadow Minister Jason Nixon said. “The fact is the NDP continue to use this committee to try and solve problems that don’t exist and to give themselves political advantages. The fact that this will waste hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars doesn’t seem to bother them at all.”
Wildrose members of the Ethics Committee will be bringing forward a motion to require political parties to make their directors and executive members public.