Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is restoring government expense transparency by reversing a policy that had hidden itemized receipts for government officials from public view.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation praised the move, calling it a step in the right direction. “Smith is taking action immediately to fix this unusual situation,” said Kris Sims, CTF Alberta director. “Alberta taxpayers need to know whether government officials are renting Corollas or Corvettes on their dime.”On Aug. 1, a policy that had been in place since 2012 was quietly altered, eliminating the requirement for officials to publicly post detailed expense receipts.Smith, returning from a trade trip to Mexico, said Thursday evening that the change was confusing and not in line with the original intent. “We are going to discuss that memo at cabinet on Tuesday… some ministers frequent the same hotels across different municipalities and only wanted the hotel names redacted to prevent tracking,” she said. “That was the policy’s purpose—it turned out differently. We will track down how that happened and reverse it.”The previous transparency rule allowed anyone to access itemized receipts without paying a freedom-of-information fee or waiting months for the documents. The recent change removed that access and deleted years of past expense records.“Alberta has some of the strongest transparency rules and grassroots taxpayer protection laws in North America, and we must always be vigilant to keep it that way,” Sims said. “We are pleased to see the premier taking swift action to correct this and ensure taxpayers can see how their money is being spent. Taxpayers will be watching the cabinet meeting closely.”
