Government moves to reverse new expense disclosure policy following backlash

The province is backtracking on a new expense policy that ended public disclosure of receipts for government officials.

Alberta’s government is backtracking on a new expense policy that ended the public disclosure of receipts for government officials, following widespread criticism that the move erodes transparency.

The policy, quietly published on Aug. 1 before the long weekend, removed a long-standing requirement that ministers, senior staff and deputy ministers publicly disclose receipts for expenses over $100.

It also erased eight years of previously available online records.

Premier Danielle Smith said the intent was to protect cabinet members, who often stay at the same hotels while travelling around the province.

“The issue that cabinet discussed was that there are a number of my ministers who go to the same hotels when they’re frequenting different municipalities, and they just wanted the name of the hotel redacted, just in case people were tracking them down,” Smith said.

“It turned out to be something quite different.”

Finance Minister Nate Horner’s press secretary, Marisa Breeze, said the directive was meant “to improve government operations and reduce red tape, and to bring Alberta’s policies into alignment with other provinces.”

She said the purpose was to “ensure the privacy and safety of elected officials and staff specifically as it relates to the physical location of their accommodations while travelling.”

She said receipts were still required for reimbursement and can be accessed through Alberta’s Freedom of Information process.

Later on Tuesday, Breeze provided CTV News with an additional statement:

“Earlier today, cabinet discussed recent amendments to the expense policy. Cabinet recognized the importance of an expense posting policy that achieves both security and transparency,” the statement said.

“Cabinet has therefore directed the president of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance to request Treasury Board immediately revert to the previous expense posting policy expecting that address information for accommodations will be redacted on receipts posted online to ensure security of elected members and staff.”

And on Wednesday, Breeze provided CTV News with a further statement:

“Alberta’s government is resuming the posting of all travel receipts over $100 for the Premier, ministers, associate ministers, parliamentary secretaries and their political staff, ensuring Albertans can clearly see how their tax dollars are spent,” the statement said.

“Receipts and expense postings from all previous years will also be re-posted for Albertans to access. Sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and address information for accommodations, will continue to be redacted to protect the safety and privacy of officials.”

The updated policy can be found here.

The Opposition NDP called the policy a deliberate attempt to conceal government spending.

“Albertans foot the bill for government expenses. They expect receipts, not excuses,” said NDP house leader Christina Gray.

“Smith’s government changed their policy on a Friday before a long weekend and scrubbed eight years of receipts from the internet. This was wrong, and all of these changes should be reversed.”

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi accused Smith of leading “the most opaque government I’ve ever seen.”

He said the premier “claims she knew nothing about it. So she knows nothing about what’s going on in her government. In reality, of course, she knew what was going on; she just wasn’t expecting the backlash.”

Independent MLA Peter Guthrie, a former cabinet minister, said the premier was also trying to shift blame.

“The premier is quick to take credit when things go right but just as quick to pass blame when they don’t,” Guthrie said.

“Albertans deserve a government that leads with integrity, not one that hides expenses, blames others and dodges accountability.”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation said the rollback is essential.

“For the longest time, Alberta has had really strong transparency laws where politicians, their bureaucrats and staff have to show their receipts for their expenses,” said Alberta director Kris Sims.

“It isn’t through FOI. You don’t need to pay a fee. They have to post their receipts online—until now.”

She added that taxpayers “want to know if your tax dollars are paying to rent a Corolla or a Corvette, a Subway sandwich supper or lobster and steak on your dime. This is why detailed receipts matter.”

Sims also dismissed the government’s explanation that system capacity issues required the removal of older records. “

“We hereby permit the government to go spend some money on external hard drives if it means they’re going to be transparent with taxpayers,” she said.

Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said the explanation did little to ease concerns.

“They just removed eight years’ worth of public records from the website,” she said.

“If it is a concern, you can simply redact the name of the hotel.”

James Turk, executive director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, called the expense changes “the tip of a far more serious iceberg.”

He said the policy fits into “a much larger blocking of access to information on the part of Albertans” under new legislation brought in by Smith’s government earlier this year.

“In June, they brought in a new Access to Information Act, replacing the former FOIP Act as well as the Protection of Privacy Act,” Turk said.

“The access to information decreases the transparency of government and decreases the public and journalists’ right to information from the government.”

He added that by limiting the time receipts remain public and removing older records, the government is “making it harder for the public and for journalists to keep track of what politicians and senior government officials are doing.”

Turk said Alberta should be leading on transparency, not retreating.

“We don’t want provinces going to the lowest common denominator,” he said.

Diane McLeod, Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner, provided a statement on the matter to media earlier this month.

“These changes diminish transparency and our office has no knowledge of the rationale for them,” her statement said, in part.

“The OIPC takes the view that transparency is critically important. Citizens are rightfully concerned about government stewardship of public resources and there is high, ongoing demand for records of government travel and other expenses, as well as other types of government spending.

“When expense concerns or scandals arise, they can lead to a crisis of public confidence in government. Proactively disclosing the expense data of senior government officials can enhance government transparency and accountability, build public trust and reduce formal access requests.

“This is why, in general, I regard government transparency as so important.”