A legislative committee comprised mostly of Tory MLAs voted to cut about $1 million from six independent offices including Alberta’s auditor general and the province’s child and youth advocate.
The ethics commissioner, information and privacy commissioner, ombudsman, and public interest commissioner will also be affected by the two per cent budget cut.
The office of the chief electoral officer was the only one to keep its budget intact.
NDP MLA David Eggen sits on the Legislative Offices committee. He voted against the cuts but says he was overruled by a PC majority.
Eggen sees this as part of a disturbing trend in the government of Premier Jim Prentice.
“They’ve just decimated the official opposition and now they’re going after these independent offices that are required now more than ever to scrutinize the government,” he said.
“So I think Albertans should all be very concerned about this.”
The provincial government has limited spending and hiring in the face of dropping oil prices. Prentice has said that tough choices will have to made in the next budget.
The cuts are:
Information and privacy commissioner $140,000
Ethics commissioner $19,460
Ombudsman $67,000
Public interest commissioner $25,480
Child and youth advocate $264,640
Auditor General $546,000
The cuts won’t go into effect until they are approved by cabinet
