Skip to content

Should councillors expenses be posted online?

A few weeks ago a resident came into our office and asked where they could find how much the Town of Barrhead councillors earned over the last year.

A few weeks ago a resident came into our office and asked where they could find how much the Town of Barrhead councillors earned over the last year.

The answer, as with the majority of municipal councils and school boards, is in the annual auditor’s report and it isn’t necessarily easy to find.

Not that these organizations are intentionally trying to hide the information, but as with any audit report, it often contains dozens of pages of information, in which the salaries of elected officials are only a small part of so sometimes it does take some digging.

In recent years, the documents for all three councils we regularly cover, have only been available online, or through request.

However, that got us to thinking, that perhaps councillors for both the town and county should have to file their expenses on a regular basis and post them online, similar to Pembina Hills Public Schools trustees, which post the expenses of not only the trustees, but the superintendent as well as other prominent employees.

Not only would it make it easier to find, but it would also answer questions such as what particular events and meetings not only were attended but also were paid for.

I don’t know about you, but there have been times when I have seen a number of multiple elected officials at a function and wondered why are there was so many of them here and whose dime are they on.

Especially when they are from either of the counties, Woodlands County and County of Barrhead, as more of their remuneration comes from the attending of meetings or events. The example I like to use is the official grand opening ceremony of Lac Ste. Anne’s new administration building last September in which multiple members of both Woodlands County and the County of Barrhead attended.

At the time I remember thinking that it wasn’t necessary for so many councillors from both those counties to be in attendance, three from Barrhead and two or three from Woodlands County.

That being said perhaps only one councillor from each might have been been representing their respective councils, the others might have been there on their own accord.

And even if they all were there officially there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that. There is value in going to an event, networking and discussing issues of mutual concern.

However, if councils posted these expenses it would make for an even more transparent government.

On the issue of transparency, I must apologize to Town of Barrhead councillors when I stated in my July 3 column that the decision not to accept the Elk’s donation of $150,000 should have been made in open council.

It turns out they did that at the May 22 meeting. Generally what happens at a town council is that they go into in-camera to discuss items of sensitivity and as such are protected under the Freedom of Information Protection and Privacy Act before officially adjourning the meeting. It is usually at this point where I and other members of the media are thanked for their attendance and depart. After the in-camera session, mayor Dave McKenzie moved that council send a letter to the Barrhead Elks Club thanking them for their proposed funding offer, however, council has declined the offer and are suggesting other funding avenues for their consideration. The motion passed unanimously.

I thank Coun. Rod Klumph for pointing this out, and I sincerely apologize for the error.


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
Read more



push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks