Premier Jim Prentice has announced he will introduce an “Accountability Act” to the Alberta Legislature when sessions resume.
“Anyone who wishes to be part of this government going forward … will be held to the highest possible standards,” he said Wednesday.
Prentice said the motivation behind the act was the many frustrated Albertans he met this summer during his travels as he campaigned for PC leadership.
Going forward, he said his priority will be restore Albertan’s faith in their government. His first step will be to immediately begin work with the province’s ethics commissioner to draft the act, which will will be introduced to the legislature in November.
Prentice said the Act will include clear conflict of interest guidelines requiring government figures to voluntarily disclose their employment history and financial holdings.
“The government as a collective body must be held accountable,” he said.
Following that financial note, Prentice said his government would be working closely with the province’s auditor general to monitor spending and saving, promising report cards would be issued to the general public twice a year.
Prentice also said work had begun in ending government entitlement, noting “sweetheart” severance packages will no longer be offered. In the future, severance packages will only be paid when an employee has been terminated without cause and will be will be consistent with public sector standards, he said.
No one will be given a severance profit from a position they held for only a short period of time, he added.
From now on, government appointments will be made based on merit rather than political connections, he said.
Prentice promised to enforce the new rules “with vigour and discipline.”
Announcement follows week of reversals
When he was sworn in as Alberta’s 16th premier on September 16, Prentice said Alberta was “under new management.”
In the weeks since, he has shaken up cabinet, announced plans to sell Alberta’s controversial fleet of government planes, and scrapped the former government’s plan to redesign Alberta’s licence plates.
One Tuesday, he announced a review of health care in rural Alberta, saying the focus will be on timely access to health care, an evaluation of specialist services in rural areas and recruiting health professionals.
One decision he has not reversed, however, is the plan to continue construction on former premier Alison Redford’s luxury suite in Edmonton.
Prentice said the most cost effective course at this point would be just to continue that plan.
“I don’t think the taxpayers of Alberta want to see any more costs incurred,” he said last week.
