Alberta to let cabinet choose limits, rules about gifts for politicians
Global News
Alberta is proposing legislation to make it easier to change dollar limits and rules surrounding gifts for elected officials. It's a move the NDP calls a self-serving ploy.
Alberta is proposing legislation to make it easier to change dollar limits and rules surrounding gifts for elected officials.
It’s a move the Opposition NDP calls a self-serving ploy by Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government to better position itself to be on the receiving end of a gravy train of perks.
“The government trying to limit the value of gifts is like allowing a teenager to set their own curfew,” NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir told reporters Friday.
“These changes to the Conflicts of Interest Act are about protecting the UCP.”
“It means less transparency and more of that good old Conservative entitlement to backroom deals.”
Currently, non-monetary gifts to politicians are capped at $200 and elected officials can accept tickets worth up to $400 a year from any one source.
On Thursday, Justice Mickey Amery introduced a bill amending the act to allow cabinet to alter dollar amounts and rules as it sees fit without going back to the house to pass a bill.
“It gives us the ability to move with the current times when and if it’s required,” Amery said.