For Lisa Roberts, a rookie Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Nova Scotia, one year is too short for her to learn “how to spend money”.
Roberts, the MLA for Halifax Needham district, only spent $29,581 for 22 items between the months of October 2016 and March 2017, according to the MLA expanse report. This is 22 per cent lower than the average of all MLAs. Her expenses included advertising, postage and office rental.
“With all MLAs now, their expenses are reimbursed after they make the expenses,” She said. “Apart from major things that are directly paid for by the office speaker, like grants, all other expenses I pay for and the province pays me back. As MLAs, they are supposed to account for how they spend money related to their official duties.”
In Nova Scotia, each MLA is entitled to claim up to a maximum of $4,282.00 in expenses per month, plus an additional annual amount $14,059 to $18,558, from depending on the MLA constituency, says the MLA Member’s Manual. So the public can access the monthly expenses report online.
The average travel expense is $3,629, overall MLAs who had travel records between Oct. 2016 and March 2017. But Roberts’ travel expense is only one-fourth of the average travel expenses.
Roberts lives in Young St. in downtown Halifax, which is very close to the Nova Scotia Assembly House. Half of time Roberts takes bus, and half of time she rides her bike, so she doesn’t need to charge mileage when travelling inside Halifax.
Before she was elected MLA, Roberts was the Executive Director of Veith House, a non-profit neighbourhood hub in the North End of Halifax that provides several services and programs for local residents.
“I really used to be frugal because I don’t want to buy things that are wasteful,” says Roberts. “As a new MLA, it took me a little while to organize my own finances to be able to have sufficient credit to pay those expenses, and to feel comfortable spending a lot money.”
“I feel good spending advertising revenue to support non-profit organizations because there are so many non-profit organizations doing good work in Halifax,” says Roberts.
Members must complete the Finance Direct Deposit form along with the submission of a void cheque, original invoice and proof of payment.
Graham Steel, a Business Law professor in University of Dalhousie and former member of NDP in Nova Scotia, is not surprised that Roberts spent much less than other MLAs.
“There are definitely some MLAs that spend more than others,” says Steele, “They spend as much as allowed to, but some are very proud of that they don’t spend a lot of money.”
Steele says if MLAs are not sure about how to do their expenses, they can consult with the staff in the Speaker office.
After the general Provincial Election on May 30, other newly-elected MLAs like Alana Paon for PC and Susan Leblanc for NDP are supposed to learn how to figure out their monthly expenses as well.