Provincial Auditor slams transparency of MLA expenses

Toronto's City Council posts every expense online

WINNIPEG: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) responded to the Provincial Auditor’s concerns today with the disclosure of MLA expenses by calling on the Legislature to implement the City of Toronto’s reporting model. The City of Toronto introduced an online system where taxpayers can view receipts for every expense made by Toronto’s City Council.

"Simply reporting that an MLA spent $25,000 on 'constituency expenses' tells taxpayers nothing about how the funds were spent," said CTF Manitoba Director Colin Craig. "These are taxpayer dollars, so taxpayers should know how the money is being spent. There's no reason why the Legislature couldn't post scanned images of every expense online."

The CTF encourages Manitoba taxpayers to view the differences between how both bodies report politicians’ expenses:

Manitoba Legislature: http://www.gov.mb.ca/finance/pdf/annualreports/public_accounts_v3_09.pdf (p. 112)

Toronto’s City Council: http://app.toronto.ca/tcer_web/Controller?action=1&selectedYear=2009 (click on "details")