NDP says government withholding important financial documents

EDMONTON The NDP is accusing the Alberta government of withholding critical information on the Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCO) on the eve of a hearing into the province’s pension system.

On Monday, a standing committee on public members’ bills is slated to continue reviewing Bill 203, a private member’s bill from NDP MLA Christina Gray that would reverse changes made to some public sector pension plans, including a government decision to require that teachers’ pensions be managed by AIMCO starting next year.

But the discussion will have to happen without the financial information contained in the annual report on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund — a fund managed by AIMCO — after the government missed its legally mandated June 30 deadline for making that report public.

The annual report was supposed to be approved at a June 26 meeting of the standing committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, and made public in time, but the meeting was cancelled the day before by UCP MLA and committee chairman Ron Orr.

An email sent to committee members on behalf of Orr said financial statements that are part of the report will not be finalized by Alberta’s Treasury Board and Finance until July 13, meaning the annual report won’t be approved until after that.

In a statement, Jerrica Goodwin, press secretary for Finance Minister Travis Toews, said the delay was caused by difficulties completing accounting during the COVID-19 pandemic and that the report would be released at the “earliest time possible.”

NDP MLA David Eggen, who sits on the committee that was supposed to approve the heritage fund’s annual report, said he’s seen a copy but can’t talk about specifics until it’s public.

“The government just chose to move an awful lot of money over to AIMCO’S management. This report directly, you know, gives us a lot of information about AIMCO that I think the public needs to know, like right now,” he said.

Eggen said the report he’s seen has already been audited by the Auditor General.

“The report’s here, I have it and it’s been audited by the Auditor General. So they should have by law made that public in the meeting,” he said.

Goodwin said the report cannot be considered final until there is a final exit meeting with the Auditor General.

“The exit meeting for the Heritage Fund annual report is currently scheduled for July 7. At the moment, the financial statements for the Heritage Fund annual report remain incomplete because of the need for final sign-off,” she said.

“Once signed off and the standing committee holds their meeting, the report will be able to be released publicly.”

Gray said more than 3,000 people have sent written submissions to the committee on private members’ bills in the week since the public hearing was announced.

“So there’s a huge amount of interest in this, including, among other things, concern about AIMCO as being the sole investment manager for these pensions. And yet, the committee doesn’t have the information contained in the Heritage Savings Trust Fund’s annual report, which is complete and ready to be reviewed,” she said.

“But the committee cancelled the meeting. And so, to me, it just seems contemptuous and it provides a disservice to Albertans and to the committee members who are meeting on Monday morning.”