Dear Editor:
In the 2006 federal election, Wetaskiwin MP Blaine Calkins and the Conservative Party of Canada campaigned on a platform of accountability and open government. Will Calkins follow the lead of the Nova Scotia government and a Liberal MP who have posted their detailed expense reports for the public to see? Will he answer the calls of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and release detailed expense reports?
While members of Parliament are audited by the firm KPMG they are not required to release detailed expense reports. Auditor General Sheila Fraser has raised some doubts about the process.
Given that the citizens of Ponoka should have a right to know how their MP spent their hard-earned tax dollars. Will Calkins release detailed financial records from the time he took office to the auditor general and the media? Will he outline specific travel, office, meal, or miscellaneous expenditures that he may have incurred?
Kyle Morrow,
political student