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Opposition outlines additional recommendations for accountability in the House of Assembly March 2, 2007 Opposition Leader Gerry Reid today outlined additional recommendations on House of Assembly accountability that the Liberal caucus will be making to the party in preparation for the upcoming provincial general election. Mr. Reid also confirmed that the Liberal caucus will repay the $2875 that was granted by the Internal Economy Commission (IEC) in 2004. During a two day meeting, the Liberal caucus discussed many issues in preparation for the upcoming spring session of the legislature and the upcoming provincial general election. One of the key issues was strengthening accountability and transparency in the House of Assembly. During these discussions the $2875 payment was addressed, the possibility of a public inquiry into operations at the House of Assembly, the posting of constituency claims on the internet, public meetings of the IEC, and opening the House of Assembly to the Access to Information Act. "Our caucus had very productive meetings over the past two days," said Mr. Reid. "We attempted to address many issues during our discussions and were successful in setting goals for the upcoming session of the House of Assembly and the general election in October. We also spent a significant period of time discussing the direction our caucus would like to take to improve openness and accountability provisions at the House of Assembly. "When the $2875 payment was made in 2004, our members took it at face value that this was a legitimate payment. The Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board was on the IEC and he was in charge of the province?s purse strings. We now know that the disclosure of these funds should have been much more transparent. We do not want people to think that we are repaying these funds because we did something improper as the payments were approved legitimately, but we are confirming that there were disclosure problems and the process must be improved. We are hopeful that some of our recommendations will prevent this from happening in the future. "While discussing ways to strengthen the accountability procedures at the House of Assembly, there was unanimous consent that more has to be done to re-instill public confidence in the legislature. Our members have agreed to make several recommendations to the Liberal Party to include as policy statements in the upcoming election platform. These would include posting all constituency expenditures on the internet and tabling supporting documentation in the House of Assembly. In addition, our members feel that the House of Assembly should be open to the Access to Information Act. "There was also discussion as to whether IEC meetings should be opened up to the general public. While we understand that there are confidential and personnel issues involving staff of the House of Assembly, guidelines can be developed that would ensure that nobody?s personal privacy is compromised. As a result, our members of the IEC will be making a motion during the next IEC meeting to hold all future meetings in public. "Finally, with respect to the issue of holding a public inquiry into the operations of the House of Assembly. Our caucus feels that this may be a valid process, however, we feel that consultation should take place with the Auditor General and Chief Justice Derek Greene to figure out whether they feel a public inquiry would access additional information and assist in their ongoing activities. There needs to be a definitive goal as to what this inquiry could accomplish, and we feel that both the Auditor General and the Chief Justice would be in the best situation to judge whether this inquiry would be of benefit and provide new information to the general public. "Obvious and fundamental problems have been discovered at the House of Assembly and it is up to all 48 MHAs and political parties to find ways to address these issues directly. These are some of our ideas and we are certain there will be more put forth over the coming months. The people of the province must not lose faith in their democratic legislature and we will do our part in an effort to restore confidence in our parliamentary system."
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