$1.3M approved for election watchdog
UCP accuses NDP of rushing process during fiery meeting
Accusations of misusing taxpayer dollars, a testy point of order and complaints of a rushed process didn’t stop a legislative committee giving thumbs up to a $1.3-million budget for Alberta’s new election commission Tuesday.
The two-hour meeting also saw United Conservative Party MLA Angela Pitt question whether the NDP was flying through the selection process because it’s eyeing an early election, or has already decided on a person to fill the role.
Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville NDP MLA Jessica Littlewood dismissed those suggestions.
In an interview, Littlewood said the tight timelines are crucial so Albertans know who is trying to influence democracy.
“The sooner the better, because we see how people with outside interests have been running roughshod over Alberta’s democracy for decades,” she said.
The budget includes $386,000 for three full-time employees — the commissioner, an investigator and a senior administrative support worker.
The rest of the money will go to initial set-up costs, standard office expenses such as postage and phones, and investigative contractors similar to those currently used by Elections Alberta.
JOB RE-ADVERTISED
The hunt for a commissioner began Dec. 29, and that’s part of the UCP’s problem.
Spending $20,000 on advertising over the festive period was a waste of money, its MLAs argued, especially as only 11 people applied for the job. The shallow pool of applications led to another $20,000 bill to advertise the job again.
The opposition also took issue with how that second outlay was approved — through an email sent at 3:41 p.m. on Jan. 9, requiring a response by 10 a.m. the next day.
It was particularly galling for the UCP, because they warned at a Dec. 20 committee meeting that nobody would see the ad during the Christmas break.
Either way, the deadline for applications is Jan. 19, and the committee agreed — after some debate — to ask the legislative office for a binder of applicants by Jan. 25.
The UCP thinks that timeline is too tight.
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper said in an interview there’s no reason to rush the process.
“We need to make sure we have a very high-quality, skilled, independent, non-partisan office of the legislature,” he said.
“When we rush decisions, we often don’t arrive at the best available decision.”
Alberta’s new commissioner will be tasked with investigating and enforcing advertising and political fundraising laws. She or he will look into the activities of candidates, political parties, constituency associations and political action committees (or PACs).
The office was created with the fall passing of Bill 32, which zeroed in on so-called political
We need to make sure we have a very high-quality, skilled, independent, non-partisan office of the legislature. When we rush decisions, we often don’t arrive at the best available decision.
“dark money.”
Littlewood argued in the meeting that dark money is still a problem in Alberta, and said the UCP wants to keep it that way.
“They want to see that their wealthy friends, their insiders, still have the power in this province, and that’s unfortunate,” she said.
Cooper said that’s ridiculous, and his party supports an open and transparent democratic process.