Liberals undermine democratic process at Public Accounts Committee

HALIFAX - The Liberals used their majority today to reduce the number of Public Accounts Committee meetings from once a week to once a month. Public Accounts is the committee that oversees public spending in government departments.

“This is a disservice to Nova Scotians who want good government,” said Lisa Roberts, MLA for Halifax Needham and one of two NDP members of the committee. “Reducing the number of meetings means we won’t have enough time to deal with all the Auditor General reports, let alone other issues that will come up around how the government spends the people’s money.”

There will now only be, at most, twelve meetings of the Public Accounts committee per year. According to available records, the last time there were so few meetings of the committee was in 1988.

“The public has a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent,” said Susan Leblanc, MLA for Dartmouth North and a member of the committee. “This government’s actions are undermining the democratic process in our province.”

According to the Legislative Library, the Public Accounts Committee met on average 26 times a year from 1999/2000 to 2011/2012.

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