Cabinet Policy Committees (February 22)
Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Premier: why are appointments of Conservative MLAs to the Treasury Board and the Agenda and Priorities Committee done through an order in council, which is published, while appointments to the Conservative cabinet policy committees are not done through order in council but done through the Premier’s office?
Those appointments are done in secrecy.
Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, they can’t be secret because everybody knows who sits on what committee, so I’m not quite sure where the member is going with it. We do have members that are appointed to what we call cabinet policy committees. They’re there to talk about issues that come forward from Albertans, whether it be looking at regulations or laws that some constituents are asking us to put in place. They vet, discuss it, and bring it forward as a recommendation.
Mr. MacDonald: Again, Mr. Speaker, to the Premier: what legislative authority is the Premier using to appoint and pay Conservative caucus members to the internal cabinet policy committees, which meet behind closed doors?
Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, the CPCs, the cabinet policy committees, were put together to discuss issues and policies that come forward and to bring those recommendations. Many of those recommendations lead to legislation, and that legislation ends up here in the House for full and open debate, as does every piece of legislation.
Mr. MacDonald: Again, Mr. Speaker, to the Premier: is the Premier’s exercise of this authority to appoint and pay cabinet policy committee members a violation of the Legislative Assembly Act, specifically section 37? Did you read that before you appointed those people?
Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, I always trust you as the Speaker of this Assembly to make sure that nobody at all breaks any legislation with respect to this legislation.
The other thing is that I’m sure that across this way and in that party over there, even the party of three, they get paid for a whip, an assistant whip, and a House leader, and all of those things are paid for through the Legislative Assembly.
The Speaker: The payment for whips, though, only applies to officially recognized parties, so in the case of the third party that wouldn’t happen.
Alberta Hansard, February 22, 2010