Liberals Say They Lead Way On Transparency By Publicly Disclosing Expenses

TORONTO- Leading the way onaccountability and transparency inParliament, Liberal Members ofParliament and Senators this week proactivelyposted their travel and hospitalityexpenses on the party’s website.”Canadians asked for openness and honestyfrom their government, but insteadgot secrecy, distrust and scandal,” saidLeader of the Liberal Party of Canada,Justin Trudeau.”For us, transparency isn’t just a word;it’s a way of doing business. That’s whywe have gone above and beyond whatany other party is doing and have startedto publicly disclose our expenses.”In the wake of successive Conservativeethics abuses, Canadians’ faith inParliament has been seriously shaken. Inresponse, Liberals put forward theirOpen Parliament Plan, a component ofwhich was the proactive disclosure oftravel and hospitality expenses.Other elements include: opening upmeetings of the secretive House ofCommons Board of Internal Economy;requiring common, quarterly and moredetailed online expense reports easilyaccessible to Canadians; and workingwith the Auditor General to developpublic guidelines to ensure proper spendingin Parliament.In June, Liberals sought unanimous consentin the House of Commons to implementthe full plan but were blocked bythe NDP.”The Liberal Party of Canada is the onlyparty with a comprehensive plan to makeParliament more accountable and transparent,and publicly disclosing ourexpenses is just the first step,” said Mr.Trudeau. “When Parliament returns thisweek, Canadians can count on us to continuepushing for measures to preventethical breaches, increase openness andtransparency, and strengthen the integrityof our electoral system.”