Elections provide the ultimate accountability because they give voters the opportunity to throw the bums out. But, of course, there are no guarantees that the new guys will be better. That’s why it’s important to continually adjust and strengthen the accountability rules.

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives recently released a list of proposals to increase accountability within the provincial government. Here are some of the highlights:

The conflict of interest commissioner makes sure all government decisions are made in the best interest of the citizens. This is important. For example, if a legislator has a friend who could benefit from a government contract, that legislator may need to be recused from any part of the process to award that contract.

Questions about conflict of interest are some of the many clouds hanging over Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton. A whistleblower raised the alarm regarding a potential government procurement of water-filled flood barriers worth millions through an untendered contract with a distributor that has ties to Ashton. Questions aren’t the same as proof, but public servants need to be above reproach.

Right now Manitoba’s conflict of interest commissioner can’t investigate complaints. The Conservatives promise to change that. That would give taxpayers answers when conflict of interest questions arise.

While on the topic of untendered contracts, the Conservatives also say they would empower the auditor general to randomly audit those contracts to make sure they’re entirely justified. Sometimes untendered contracts are necessary to deal with an emergency, but they can also create an opportunity for corruption. Random audits would reduce the temptation to use untendered contracts an inside track on government business.

Political parties shouldn’t take money from taxpayers. Yet Manitoba taxpayers are forced to give political parties a subsidy of $600,000 to litter our streets with signs, run attack ads on TV and tie up our phone lines with robocalls. So, instead of earning donations from supports who believe in their vision, political parties can simply help themselves to government coffers.

To their credit, the Conservatives are the only party that’s refused to take the money and they say they’ll get rid of the subsidy if they win the election.

The Conservatives are also tackling the issue of severance payments for political staff.

Premier Greg Selinger shocked taxpayers by giving seven political staffers $670,000 in severance payments after they backed rivals in the NDP civil war. He refused to disclose details. The government even blocked access-to-information requests asking for the criteria used to calculate the cash outs.

The Conservatives promise to make severance payments to political staff more transparent. They have yet to make it clear exactly how they would do this. Alberta publishes the severance clause associated with each staffer’s pay. The federal government provides clear formulas for determining severance payments and caps the total at six months of pay. Anything would be better than the current system of stuffing arbitrary amounts of cash into the pockets of political staffers as they’re ushered out the door.

It’s easy to be cynical. Too many people believe that all politicians are the same and ethical breaches are routine. And it is true that no accountability system will prevent all bad behaviour.

But a good fence is worth building even if the occasional member of the herd still strays. It will help to further empower watchdogs such as the auditor general and ethics commissioner. It will make political parties more accountable if they depend on voluntary donations from supporters rather than handfuls of taxpayers’ cash. And clarifying severance policies for political staffers will protect taxpayers from politically expedient payments.

These are accountability proposals are all well worth implementing.