Harvey, MacDonald and Sherman all pledge taxpayer-friendly reforms

Harvey and Sherman commit to MLA recall legislation and Liberal Senate nominations

Related: A Fiscally Conservative Premier?

EDMONTON, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today released responses from three of the five Alberta Liberal Party leadership candidates to ten key questions posed by the CTF.

The CTF makes clear that the survey and grades are not an endorsement of any candidate or party, but a tool for the public to show where candidates -- and the next leader of the official opposition -- stand on CTF priority issues. Grading is only provided as a quick reference.

“We were very pleased to have two candidates, Mr. Harvey and Mr. Sherman, commit to both introduce MLA recall legislation and to run Liberal Party candidates in the next provincial Senate nomination vote,” said Scott Hennig, CTF-Alberta director. “This province is in need of some serious democratic reform and MLA recall and Liberals running for the federal Senate would certainly kick it up a notch.”

If one of them win and follow through, it could make Alberta the first jurisdiction in Canada to put Liberals on the ballot in Senate nominations. With three of Alberta’s six Senate seats coming open over the next 40 months, the next Senate nomination vote could be very significant.

Hugh MacDonald and Bill Harvey also committed to require their caucus to put their expenses up online.

“MLA expenses can only be accessed right now if the MLA has voluntarily made them public. We can’t FOIP them, they aren’t tabled in the Legislature, so having the Liberal caucus put them online would force other parties to follow suit,” continued Hennig.

All three candidates – Mr. Harvey, Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Sherman – also shared their opposition to provincial tax dollars being used to build new NHL arenas in Edmonton and Calgary.

“Following the PC and Liberal leadership races, it’s highly likely every party leader represented in the legislature will be on the record opposing provincial dollars flowing into professional sports and entertainment complexes,” said Hennig.

Complete copies of A Taxpayer-Friendly Opposition Leader? including full written responses from three of the five leadership candidates can be found online at: http://taxpayer.com/sites/default/files/downloadable/A%20Taxpayer%20Friendly%20Opposition%20Leader%20-%20final_0.pdf or by contacting the Alberta office at 1-800-661-0187.

A similar survey of Alberta PC Party leadership candidates was released yesterday.

Downloadable Version: 

A Taxpayer Friendly Opposition Leader - final.pdf

By: Scott Hennig
Posted: September 09, 2011
Topic: Alberta

Contact the regional director Scott Hennig for further information.

Type: News Releases

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