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Opposition calls for IEC meetings to be open to the public February 2, 2007 Opposition Leader Gerry Reid says the Official Opposition is calling on all future meetings of the Internal Economy Commission (IEC) to be open to the public so the proceedings are no longer shrouded in secrecy. In addition, Mr. Reid says the House of Assembly should be opened up to the Access to Information Act and constituency allowance expenditures should be tabled in the House of Assembly every year. "Obvious problems have been identified in the workings of the IEC and something must be done to restore public confidence," said Mr. Reid. "The only way to ensure true openness and accountability is to make everything open to public scrutiny. As a result, I will be encouraging the IEC to hold their meetings in public, asking the legislature to open the House of Assembly to the Access to Information Act and lobbying to have constituency allowances tabled publicly every year. "The people of the province must have the opportunity for input into the decisions of their representatives. The only way to ensure this input is to open the process to public scrutiny. While these are a few immediate initiatives that should be implemented, I will also be putting forth further ideas in our policy platform on accountability that will see cabinet ministers putting their departmental travel and entertainment expenses on the internet similar to the federal system. "Problems have been identified and it is up to all three political parties to make changes. I fully support opening the people's House of Assembly to scrutiny and I hope government will support these initiatives to ensure a full and open process."
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