Expense disclosures show 31 MLAs made maximum claims for Edmonton housing

EDMONTON United Conservative Party MLA Derek Fildebrandt came under fire this week when Postmedia revealed he claimed a taxpayer-funded housing allowance from government while renting out his Edmonton apartment on Airbnb.

Last year, 45 of 87 MLAs claimed that same housing allowance, which helps them pay costs associated with hotels or a temporary residence in Edmonton while they’re in the city on official business.

MLAs whose permanent home is 60 kilometres or more from the legislature quality for the allowance, as do representatives who live closer and have worked more than 12 hours on a given day. MLAs qualify for $193 a day when the legislature is sitting, or they’re in town for other duties, or $1,930 a month for those who own or rent a temporary residence in Edmonton.

The maximum they can claim is $23,160 a year and, in the 201617 year, 31 MLAs claimed the full amount, according to MLA expense disclosures posted online.

Fildebrandt was one of the MLAs who claimed the full amount. Although he said he broke no rules by pocketing $2,555 from Airbnb customers who stayed in his downtown Edmonton apartment, he said he has since given the earnings to government.

On Thursday, Premier Rachel Notley said no one from the NDP caucus has sublet their government-funded temporary residences. Caucus staff checked with all NDP MLAs this week, said a spokeswoman.

Fildebrandt has claimed some of his UCP colleagues also rent out their residences. On Friday, party spokeswoman Samantha Johnson said in an email no other UCP MLAs have or are currently renting out their residences on Airbnb. By press time, she had not clarified whether any MLAs sublet residences using another method.

Robert Wanner, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and MLA for Medicine Hat, has a centrally located, two-bedroom apartment in Edmonton, his chief of staff Alex McCuaig said Friday.

Although McCuaig wouldn’t estimate how much of the year Wanner spends in Edmonton, he said his duties extend beyond regular sessions. Wanner claimed the maximum accommodation allowance last year.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister Oneil Carlier had the lowest claim last year. Carlier, who lives in Alberta Beach, makes the hourlong drive home every night, his press secretary Renato Gandia said. The $1,407 he claimed was for hotels when debate dragged into the wee hours, Gandia said.