Critics call for transparency on flood relief spending
There are calls for the provincial government to be more transparent about public funds being spent in the wake of last month’s devastating floods.
Days after the flood waters hit Calgary and southern Alberta the province announced $1 billion in financial help.
Calgary flood victims looking to government for help
But a month later it's still unclear how much if any of that money has been spent.
The province pledged up to $10,000 for flood victims to rebuild homes, but it is unclear how many have received payments. Redford said earlier this month there could be more disaster recovery payments in the future.
There has been an update on the pre-loaded debit cards distributed to flood victims, reporting that $62 million was spent on that program.
The Town of High River was also given $50 million to keep essential services up and running, but so far no other expenditures have been made public.
"This government has an accountability problem,” said University of Calgary economist Frank Atkins.
Having been rebuked by the province's auditor general on budget transparency, the government should provide answers on flood compensation, Atkins said.
"Where are you getting the money? How are you spending it?" he asked. "We need to know, so they need to get something out there very, very quickly or their credibility is going to slip very, very quickly."
The federal government also pledged some flood relief in the early days of the flood. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said there is federal disaster assistance that has a set formula which the distribution of monies will be based on.
Harper joins Redford, Nenshi to survey Alberta flooding
Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman said a special auditor should be appointed to oversee the funding, "to ensure an efficient flow of funds to those who desperately need them."
A spokesperson for the province says the government is committed to transparency, but he couldn't say when the first accounting of the numbers will be made public.
