A new all-party commission created to monitor MLA spending OK’d an exemption allowing politicians to play by the old rules a little longer.
Any member with leftover funds from the period of Jan. 1 to March 31 of this year will be allowed to spend them on donations and advertising — two things severely limited after the MLA expense scandal.
Members will have until the end of the year to make use of the funds.
As of April 1, members are not permitted to spend more than 10 per cent of their yearly constituency allowances on political advertising.
But deputy premier Frank Corbett asked the province’s management committee to allow the exemption yesterday morning.
Corbett said he did not have a problem with letting members spend old money under the old rules.
“Why not?” he said. “It’s not uncommon for people to carry money forward for months at a time, and it’s available to them and they’re going to use it. They will use it wisely.”
