In the wake of yesterday's revelation that Tory MLA's Cindy Ady and Barry McFarland received $19,000 for work on the Idaho-Alberta task force - a task force which only met once and has no recorded accomplishments or activity beyond the one meeting - Edmonton-Centre Alberta Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman has announced that she had returned the $3,000 she received for work on another MLA committee that did little work:
Liberal MLA gives back committee pay
Archie McLean, The Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON - Alberta Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman gave more than $3,000 back to the government this month after she was paid for membership on a committee that stopped doing work.
Three Conservative MLAs received a combined $17,630 for their seven-month membership on the Legislative Grounds Renewal Committee despite meeting only three times in two months. One NDP member got $3,526, but has pledged to return a portion of the cash as well.
The revelation comes just one day after The Journal reported another two Tory MLAs received more than $19,000 for their membership in the Idaho-
Alberta Transboundary Task Force, which did little or no work during their paid stint.
Blakeman and the others were part of the legislative grounds committee from April 3 to Nov. 8, 2006 and were each paid $508.50 per month. The chair, Tory MLA George Rogers, got about $1,500 per month.
Blakeman even paid back the money she received in May, saying she didn't ask for it and didn't believe she did enough work to justify the payment.
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5 comments:
Just as Laurie Blakeman stood up to Ralph Klein in 2004 challenging him on government flight expenses (anyone remember Ralph's "are you calling me a liar?" response) Laurie is now standing up against the inept Tory Government and their culture of entitlement.
GO LAURIE!
You have my vote!
This is terrible politics by the Alberta Liberals. Last week it came to light that Albertans have missed out on BILLIONS of dollars in oil revenues, and the Liberals barely said "boo" about it. Where was Dr. Taft when he should have been making front page news with that Tory mega-boondoggle???
Instead we have his henchman, Ms. Blakeman, playing the old "pinch a penny" game. I'm glad they have exposed some questionable payments to MLA's, but at the end of the day what has been accomplished? Where is the official opposition when we need a plan for the future, and real ideas for Albertans?
The Alberta Liberals are MIA when it comes to being the official opposition and they are a million miles away from a "government in waiting".
I hope Alberta's voters elect a new official opposition the next time around. Nobody could be any worse...
I agree! Who wants their politicians to stand up against fat cat MLAs?
We need an real opposition like the Wild Rose Party to stand up and take the place of the Liberals and NDSocialists!
Only the Wild Rose party will stand up for real Albertans and family values.
Good on Laurie Blakeman for giving back some money because she didn't think she did anything to deserve it.
By that rationale, though, she still owes Alberta taxpayers another $72,000 or so.
"she still owes Alberta taxpayers another $72,000 or so."
58% of Edmonton Centre voters would disagree.
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