NEWS

The Warlords of Alberta, Part Three: County of Camrose

In Alberta, important public servants such as city councillors, school boards and university officials are routinely invited to donate taxpayer money or participate in partisan political fundraisers for the governing Progressive Conservative Party. These public servants feel immense pressure to comply for fear of losing provincial government support for their communities. In effect, powerful government MLAs are acting as warlords, intimidating local officials to toe the party line.

For the next several weeks, the Official Opposition will release documents suggesting which organizations felt pressured into using taxpayer dollars to fund partisan Progressive Conservative activity.

County of Camrose
According to the February 27, 2007 minutes of a regular meeting of the council of Camrose County, council voted to send the Reeve or a designate, plus spouse, to the Battle River-Wainwright MLA dinner at a cost of $100 per person.

At the same meeting, councillors also passed a motion to send councillors within the Lacombe-Ponoka constituency to that constituency’s MLA dinner in Lacombe. Both of these events were fundraisers for the PC party, reimbursed at taxpayer expense.

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Attached: Minutes of the County of Camrose council meetings for February 27, 2007 - NOTE: Technical difficulties have prevented the upload of this document. Reporters may inquire below for a copy of the minutes.

For further information, contact:

Earl J. Woods, Senior Communications Advisor
(780) 904-5430