Got a receipt for that?: A look at MLA expense forms
The Alberta Legislature.	Postmedia
Former United Conservative Party MLA Prab Gill had the highest hosting expenses — sort of — of any MLA in the last budget year.
According to MLA expense disclosure forms on the legislative assembly website, the Calgary-Greenway MLA, who recently left the UCP caucus under a cloud of controversy over a constituency association meeting, had the highest tab for hosting in 2017-18 at $11,236.
However, the UCP has promised to repay $7,245 of that total after the NDP revealed this week it was used for a banquet hosted by Gill in which UCP Leader Jason Kenney gave a partisan speech, which is strictly forbidden under legislature rules.
The issue came to light because the speech was posted on Facebook, but both the legislative assembly and a watchdog on government spending say the system is working as it should.
"The fact that it was found was due to (the expense claim) being publicly posted and I think that's important to remember," said Alex McCuaig, chief of staff to Bob Wanner, Speaker of the legislature.
"That's a form of public oversight of these expenses."
An MLA's hosting expenses come out of their office budgets, which typically amount to between $120,000 to $165,000, based on a formula that takes into account factors such as a riding's size.
On a quarterly basis, MLAs are required to submit their expense claims, with receipts.
McCuaig acknowledged that, even so, there is a bit of an honour system involved. Disclosure forms have a space describing the purpose of the expense but claims for meals or food bought for a meeting will sometimes be accompanied by a vague description such as "meeting with constituents."
"When MLAs are elected there is trust in those members to act in the public interest," he said.
Colin Craig, the acting executive director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation — which pushed for greater disclosure of MLA expenses — said the important thing is that the public, along with other political parties and interest groups, can see how MLAs are spending public funds.
A review of expense forms shows that the UCP's MLA for Calgary-Fish Creek, Richard Gotfried, had the second-highest expenditures for hosting, at $8,632, followed by NDPers Denise Woollard at $8,432 and Jamie Kleinsteuber at $7,176. The Alberta Party's Karen McPherson racked up $7,072 in hosting expenses, followed by New Democrats' Christina Gray at $6,632 and Deborah Drever at $6,019.
MLAs are required to file receipts with their hosting expenses and the forms are full of claims for coffee, cookies and vegetable trays bought for meetings. (To dispel any stereotypes, NDPers and UCP members buy coffee from both Tim Hortons and Starbucks.)
Some MLAs are more prone than others to restaurants for lunch and dinner meetings. (Alcohol is off-limits.)
But the big-ticket items that drive up hosting costs are public gatherings.
For Calgary MLAs, that primarily means events connected to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. The bulk of Drever's expense claim was $5,107 for a Calgary-Bow constituency-wide Stampede barbecue at Winsport in 2017, while Gotfried appeared to have more than $4,000 in various expenses connected to his own Stampede barbecue.
Kleinsteuber, the MLA for Calgary-Northern Hills, expensed $4,037 for his Stampede breakfast in 2017, with another $850 for a Stampede barbecue this year. Calgary-MacKay-Nose Hill MLA McPherson claimed $4,850 for her Stampede barbecue.
Edmonton-Mill Creek MLA Woollard, meanwhile, spent big on a $5,284 community New Year's lunch.
Gill's Indian banquet that ran afoul of legislative assembly rules was the priciest event expensed, with the MLA also claiming over $4,064 for a Canada Day celebration at Prairie Winds Park.
"There's a fine line there between holding a reasonable little get-together with people in your constituency to meet with them and hear what they're concerned about and going over the top," said the CTF's Craig.
"That line is probably a subjective one but at least with transparency, individual taxpayers can decide whether their MLA crossed it or not."
The record shows that some MLAs aren't so hospitable, however.
Two UCP MLAs, Prasad Panda and Glenn van Dijken, chalked up no expenditures for hosting. West Yellowhead MLA Eric Rosendahl had the lowest total among NDP members, at $78.
The expense forms also show how much MLAs from outside the capital claim for accommodation in Edmonton.
The maximum an MLA can expense is $23,160, with 29 members claiming that amount. Whitecourt-St. Anne MLA and Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier had the lowest claim, at $958.
Panda was also frugal on accommodation, expensing $7,485.
Edmonton housing claims became controversial last year when it was revealed then-UCP MLA Derek Fildebrandt, now an Independent, had rented out his taxpayer-funded apartment on Airbnb.
The legislative assembly subsequently changed its rules to ensure the practice was not allowed.
jwood@postmedia.com
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