MCNEIL: RELEASE OF LETTER BY SPEAKER A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Date: Wednesday February 10, 2010

Sydney, NS Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil today thanked the Speaker of the House for releasing a letter from the Auditor General sent to his office.

McNeil asked the Premier's Office to release the letter last Friday and on Monday repeated his request directly to Premier Darrell Dexter.

"The details in this letter will go a long way to answering many of the questions Nova Scotians have about how their MLAs have been spending taxpayers' money," said McNeil. "This additional information gathered by the Auditor General will help Nova Scotians judge for themselves."

McNeil endorses an all party legislative committee, open to the public, to determine allowances and expenses for MLAs. McNeil and the Liberal Caucus have further suggested that in the future all MLA expenses be posted on-line.

"I believe this is the kind of modern day solution that Nova Scotians expect," said McNeil. "To sum it up: If you spend it, you must defend it. That is how we need to proceed moving forward."

-30-