Ya, well in reality the Liberals should own this issue. David Swann paid money back before the uproar (actually donated to charity I think) and Raj Sherman paid the whole amount plus interest weeks ago. The Liberals were the only party who voted against the pay increase in 2008 as well.
Paul Hinman thought he should be paid more and didn't want to pay anything back. Heather Forsyth relented and agreed to pay hers back as well.
Frankly, there are a lot of MLAs who don't want to take action unless there is an election. Its a problem, regardless of the party affiliation really.
I don't think that Redford would have ended transition allowances if there was no election, but the only one I can honestly say would've paid back the committee cash with no election in sight is Swann. Despite political leanings and such one thing about him is that he is incredibly ethical and honest, so I think he would've.
To be honest, ending transition allowances is terrible policy. Yes, it saves money. This is a high pressure job though and there is no pension. They do get an RRSP allowance each year, but its a mere $11k or something. Considering the role and expectations its not that generous.
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