| Liberal leader Kevin Taft argues in a new book that democracy in Alberta has been "pushed off the rails" and it’s time to start making the provincial government more accountable to citizens.
Taft says when he travels around Alberta he hears from many disgruntled citizens who are sick of the status quo but aren’t being heard.
"Absolutely there’s a democratic deficit in Alberta and it’s enormous," he says. "What I hear people saying is, in effect, the government’s not doing its job and I, as a voter, don’t have a way to hold it to account."
Taft’s new book, Democracy Derailed argues that the Alberta legislature’s power has been "degraded" under the Conservatives. He says the government should increase the amount of time allowed for MLAs to debate new legislation before it’s passed. Taft also wants to see all-party committees established to examine legislation before it goes in front of the legislature.
Taft also advocates whistle-blower legislation to protect people who speak out about any unethical or shady government dealings. He also wants to see longer "cooling-off" periods for cabinet ministers and their senior staff before they’re allowed to start lobbying government for the private sector.
He says the auditor general’s office and the Public Accounts Committee, which is a government committee that reviews government budgets, need to be overhauled to make them more effective.
Taft also takes aim at the massive public affairs bureau, which reports directly to the premier’s office, has a budget of $14.4 million and has the equivalent of 117 full-time staff.
"All communications are now politically partisan," says Taft. He argues that the public affairs bureau doesn’t just disseminate information to Albertans, but provides positive spin for the current government.
Taft is also concerned about our access to information system. He provides examples in his book of Liberal access to information requests that took several months and cost thousands of dollars.
"If people are to hold their government accountable they have to have the information to do so…. An awful lot of the time the Alberta government doesn’t want people to know what’s going," says Taft.
Alberta’s political system also needs to be revisited, he says. Taft would like to see Alberta create a citizen’s assembly that would examine alternative political models.
"Most people will acknowledge that there’s a problem when right now we have the Tory government with absolute power that was supported by about 22 per cent of eligible voters in the last election," says Taft.
In the 2004 election, only 45 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot and, of those who voted, 47 per cent voted for the Conservatives, which works out to 22 per cent of the overall voting population.
Taft is skeptical that Premier Ed Stelmach will embark on any comprehensive democratic reform despite his promises to do so.
"The system as it is now was concocted by the Conservatives and it has served them well. It’s helped them hold onto power for 35 years. Ed Stelmach is a new engineer at the front of the train but the tracks were laid a long time ago and I don’t believe that we’re going to see any real changes under this government," he says. |
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