As part of its continued commitment to openness and accountability, the Provincial Government today released the Ministerial Expense Reimbursement Policies that are followed by members of Cabinet. This is the first time these policies have been made public.

"The release of these policies furthers our government�s efforts towards fiscal transparency and accountability," said the Honourable Joan Burke, Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women. "This is another action taken by the Williams Government to further restore public confidence in elected officials that began with the reinstatement of the Auditor General into the House of Assembly and was advanced with the report of Chief Justice Derek Green into constituency allowances."

Minister Burke, who participated in the review of the expense policies, also stated that this is the first time the expense reimbursement policies for ministers have been compiled into one document for the reference of ministers. Previously, members of Cabinet were provided with a series of decisions that provided the policy direction to ministers for the expenses they could claim in their ministerial role. However, in light of the Justice Green Report, Rebuilding Confidence: The Report of the Review Commission on Constituency Allowances and Other Matters, the Provincial Government reviewed ministerial expenses. The general principles used in the review are reflective of those contained in Justice Green�s report. In fact, Justice Green recognized that separate provisions are required to address the role of ministers.

"What this policy document now provides is clarity to ministers regarding the expense reimbursement policies and further mitigates the potential for double-billing," said Minister Burke. "Additionally, with the release of this document, we are now pledging to release publicly on a regular basis the expenses claimed by ministers, similar to the process that will be in place for the release of claims made by Members of the House of Assembly."

While traditionally the constituency allowances of Members of the House of Assembly were not available publicly nor could these be reviewed by the Auditor General until reinstatement by the Williams Administration, it should be noted that ministerial expenses, as part of departmental budgets, were subject to the Finance Administration Act and therefore subject to the oversight of the Office of the Comptroller General and review of the Auditor General. Furthermore, the actual expense claims were accessible under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and there have been instances were ministerial expenses had been released publicly.

"Ministerial expenses had been open to more scrutiny than those of MHAs prior to the enactment of House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act," said Minister Burke. "Yet, our government believes it is necessary to ensure that the accountability of ministers is aligned with the increased level of accountability that is now in place for MHAs."

While the review did not result in changes to reimbursement rates for expenses, a new component has been included that was based on Judge Green�s report. The change means that for those ministers whose permanent residence is outside of the capital region, the travel and living expenses incurred by having to travel to St. John�s for ministerial business can now be claimed to the department, rather than against the constituency allowance which had previously been the case.

"This change speaks to the spirit and intent of Justice Green�s report," said Minister Burke. "The Chief Justice clearly articulated how MHAs should expend their constituency allowance � it is to cover expenses incurred as a Member of the House of Assembly and therefore it is more appropriate for these ministerial expenses to be covered by the department to which a minister is assigned."

Work is now underway to develop a system of public reporting of ministerial expenses and it is expected that it will be operational prior to the end of the current fiscal year. A copy of the Ministerial Expense Reimbursement Policies is available at: //www.exec.gov.nl.ca/exec/cabinet/CS_Operations.htm

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