The Legislative Assembly is committed to accountability and transparency through the quarterly disclosure of information on Members’ compensation, travel expenses, and constituency office expenses. The Legislative Assembly Management Committee has approved the following public disclosures for Members (in addition to other disclosures for the Legislative Assembly Administration).
Members’ Compensation Disclosure
Since October 2013, quarterly information regarding the basic compensation and additional salaries of individual Members, including Cabinet Ministers, has been disclosed publicly on the Legislative Assembly website.
Travel Expense Disclosure
Quarterly information on Members’ travel expenses is also disclosed publicly on the Legislative Assembly website. This disclosure fulfils a commitment made by the Legislative Assembly Management Committee in 2012. It provides details of a Member’s travel costs that have been processed and paid by the Assembly in the reporting period. The disclosure does not include travel costs where the travel expense claim has not been submitted for processing, or where the travel claim is in the process of being paid. Travel costs may not include all credits or reimbursements resulting from travel that is cancelled or subsidized by third party entities due to timing differences.
In 2015, quarterly reports were expanded to include supporting receipts for Members’ travel expenses. The travel expenses for Members of the Executive Council (Cabinet) are included in the report, and detailed amounts and related receipts can be accessed through the Open Information page on the Province of British Columbia website. Occasionally, however, Members of the Executive Council may need to submit travel expense claims (e.g., for accompanying person travel) to the Legislative Assembly, and in these cases, redacted receipts will be included with the disclosure reports.
The quarterly disclosure report contains totals by Member for the following expense categories: Capital City Living Allowance, In-Constituency Travel, General Travel, Accompanying Person Travel, Speaker Approved Travel and Out of Province/Country Travel (Ministerial).
Summary reports of Members’ parliamentary committee-related travel expenses are also released quarterly.
Constituency Office Expense Disclosure
In 2014, the Assembly’s quarterly public disclosure was expanded to include constituency office expense information. Since 2015, supporting receipts have been included with the regular quarterly reports.
The quarterly constituency office reports disclose expenses paid during the reporting period in the following expense categories: Office Administration, Special Events and Protocol, Communications and Advertising, Office Supplies, Travel, and Other Office Expenses. The report does not include centralized expenses, such as lease and internet costs, which are paid directly by the Legislative Assembly.
Transitional Assistance
As approved by the Legislative Assembly Management Committee on November 25, 2019, payments made under the Transitional Assistance Allowance for Members are disclosed on the Legislative Assembly’s website on an aggregate basis quarterly.
Members’ Disclosure: Public Accounts
Members’ compensation and travel expenses, including expenses relating to the Capital City Living Allowance, are also disclosed on an annual basis in the Public Accounts of British Columbia (see Consolidated Revenue Fund Detailed Schedules of Payments).
Interparliamentary Activities
In July 2023, the Legislative Assembly Management Committee adopted the Interparliamentary Activities Framework, which strengthens the governance, accountability, and transparency of interparliamentary activity undertaken by the Legislative Assembly.
Interparliamentary work may include outgoing visits by Members and employees of the Assembly Administration to other parliaments, incoming visits from elected officials and employees from other parliaments, membership and engagement in parliamentary associations and conferences (including rotational hosting obligations), and organizational initiatives and relationship building to promote reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Interparliamentary activity reports are published on the Legislative Assembly’s website within 90 days of the conclusion of the activity.