NEWS RELEASE
Office of the Official Opposition
For Immediate Release
Joan Burke continues to mislead public on caucus resources
Figures released by the House of Assembly prove that the Official Opposition office under Danny Williams received over $100,000 more in funding for staff than our office does today, said Opposition Leader Yvonne Jones.
Jones today released figures gathered by the House of Assembly comparing caucus resources in 2003-04 when Danny Williams was Leader of the Opposition. The figures contradict statements made by Joan Burke in today’s Telegram and prove that funding for the Official Opposition has been drastically reduced under the Williams Government.
The figures show that in 2003, the Official Opposition office had a budget of $546,640 for office staff, not including constituency assistants for members. The funding for the Government Members Office was $339,925. These figures do not include the pay raises negotiated in 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008 which would bump the amount of funding for the Official Opposition to $657,082; and the list also does not include known political staffers who worked in the office at that time including the premier’s current Director of Communications who was not found in the House of Assembly records. The current budget for the Opposition office is $442,000.
“I listened to the premier’s comments this weekend and read Joan Burke’s comments today and it certainly demonstrates that this government has no problem putting out false information in an attempt to gain public support,” said Ms. Jones. “I give my warning to the nurses and other groups to be very wary of government public relations campaigns. This government is using false information against us and they may very well do the same thing in their attempts to win public support against you.
“The figures provided by the House of Assembly speak for themselves. Justice Green and an independent, non-partisan consultant both stated that our office was underfunded. It is very strange that government members only started getting more money than the Opposition when Danny Williams came to office. This certainly brings new meaning to the idea of looking after your own.”
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Media Contact:
Darrell Mercer
Director of Communications
Office of the Official Opposition
Tel: (709) 729-6151 or (709) 687-0477
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House
Operations activity |
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Salary
Budget - 2003-04 |
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Government
Members' Office (prior to October 2003 election) |
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PS6 |
43,706
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PS6 |
40,635
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PS7 |
55,702
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PS7 |
50,526
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PS6 |
40,635
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PS1 |
25,418
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PS6 |
42,668
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PS6 |
40,635
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339,925
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Official
Opposition (prior to October 2003 election) |
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PS9 |
66,544
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PS4 |
33,109
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PS7 |
66,544
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PS7 |
54,378
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PS7 |
50,526
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PS9 |
66,544
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PS6 |
47,038
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PS7 |
51,787
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PS3 |
37,537
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PS3 |
32,123
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PS4 |
40,510
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546,640
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Notes: |
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This
information is based on the written working papers prepared by the
former Director of Financial Operations as part of the 2003-04
budget process. Officials of the House of Assembly cannot confirm
the validity of this information, however, the overall salary budget
amount of $2.4 million for House Operations has been reconciled
to the working papers and the information included in the detailed
Oracle Financial Analyzer (Budget tool) reports . |
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