UCP MLAS VOTE TO SHIELD PAT REHN FROM DEBATE ON ACCOUNTABILITY

EDMONTON - UCP Members of the Special Standing Committee on Member’s Services voted 6-4 on Wednesday against allowing NDP MLA Thomas Dang to present a motion that would have called upon Lesser Slave Lake MLA, Pat Rehn to address his inappropriate and erroneous expenses, and taken steps to prevent this from happening again.

At the January 20 meeting of the Member’s Service Committee, UCP MLA voted 6-4 against Thomas Dang’s motion which read: “the Special Standing Committee on Members’ Services:

1. request that the Chair sent a letter to the Member for Lesser Slave Lake requesting him to work with the Legislative Assembly Office administration to identify and rectify any inconsistencies relating to claims under the Members’ Allowance Order that may have been submitted in error, and inviting the member to appear before the committee to explain how these errors were made, and 
2. establish a Sub Committee to review this matter for the purpose of providing, within 60 days, recommendations to the Committee on how Members can ensure that these type of errors can be avoided in the future.

Two days ago it was reported that Pat Rehn had claimed per diems for nearly every day for four months. In a facebook statement, Rehn himself admitted to “errors” and tried to blame his assistant for the claims, despite the requirement for MLAs to certify and approve all expense claims.

“These UCP MLA’s need to explain to their constituents why they voted against an open debate on accountability,” said Dang. “They also need to explain why even after removing him from Caucus, they are still covering for Pat Rehn.”

The UCP MLAs who voted against debating Dang’s motion were:

• Mike Ellis MLA for Calgary-West and Chief Government Whip,
• Jordan Walker MLA for Sherwood Park,
• Dan Williams MLA for Peace River,
• Martin Long MLA for West Yellowhead,
• Nathan Neudorf MLA for Lethbridge-East,
• Laila Goodridge MLA for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche