Speaker hands over MLA constituency assistant payments to caucus offices

Speaker of the House of Assembly Charlie Parker said today, Feb. 17, that he has given information on payments made to MLA constituency assistants to the three caucus offices.

"My staff has collected information on payments MLAs made to constituency assistants and it has been forwarded to their respective caucus offices to address any irregularities," said Mr. Parker.

"I will not be releasing any details because I believe it is employer-employee information and may be sensitive. If the caucus offices or individual MLAs want to release the information, then that is their decision."

In the past, MLAs were given monthly allowances of $4,190. It could be used for expenses such as advertising, technology, or to pay employees.

Under previous guidelines, MLAs were only permitted to have one full-time employee on the payroll system. That guideline was changed Dec. 1, so all staff payments are now processed through the Speaker's office payroll system.

Additional staff can be paid with funds from the constituency allowance. The monthly allowance has been reduced by 21 per cent to $3,325 for January, February and March, 2010. The allowance for the rest of the year has not been determined.

In his report Feb. 3, Auditor General Jacques LaPointe said some MLAs paid extra amounts to their staff.