CKNW News Staff | Email news tips to nwnews@cknw.com
7/31/2012
 The secretive legislative assembly management committee has emerged from a four-hour meeting with a plan to tackle a scathing report from the Auditor General.
NDP MLA Shane Simpson sits on the committee and he says they have decided to meet all recomendations made by the Auditor General since 2007.
That includes making LAMC more open and accountable as well as moving immediately to address legislature finances after a report tabled by the Auditor General last week called them a total mess.
"We have also committed to expanding the release of information on members expenses we have put in place some additional financial expertise and financial controls including an internal audit and risk management program and all of this is to move forward over the next couple of months."
When asked what took so long after a mere four hour meeting addressed problems that have been pointed out for years, Simpson said,
"Well I think the reality is that this problem has been around for decades thats become clear it is a problem that has been endemic to this place for a long period of time at this point I think we are saying that we are not pointing fingers we have put in place a series of steps that we hope by example will show people we are in fact serious about this."
Simpson says LAMC will also become more transparent and accountable.
"To re-establish a level of public trust in the operations of the legislative assembly we have to move forward to do that there is lots of time for politics to be played by politicians this isn't one of them and we think that the steps that we have made today will take us down the road, as long as we implement them properly, to restoring that trust."
Simpson says Auditor General John Doyle has given his stamp of approval to the changes.
Jordan Bateman with the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation says the move is a step in the right direction.
"Clearly the public spanking worked... the report from the auditor general's finally embarrassed these MLAs enough to actually... well... do their job."
Bateman is also applauding the decision to open up committee meetings to the public.
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