Alberta’s Public Affairs Bureau is overly centralized, politicized, partisan and dominated by the Office of the Premier. It is essential to ensure that government communications are reformed by eliminating the PAB and instituting a more decentralized approach that is based in each government department, with an emphasis on more openness and communication to meet the public’s need for non-partisan information about the work of each department.

The Problems:

The role of the Public Affairs Bureau is a reflection of and a major contributor to the larger problem of too much secrecy and too little transparency and openness in the operations of Alberta’s government.

The problem of over-centralization of government information has become more acute over the past decade. This unhealthy situation is made worse by the control of the PAB by the Office of the Premier.

It is vital in a democracy to make a clear distinction between activities and information that are needed to fulfill government functions and those that are for party or partisan purposes.

 In recent years in Alberta, that line has not only been blurred by the structure and actions of the PAB – it has been effectively erased. “Explanations of government policy” that read like election platforms, government advertising that could just as easily have been party advertisements, “fireside chats” that advance a partisan agenda – the list is long, the public pays, and the PAB  and Premier’s office direct and coordinate the communication process, which ultimately advances party ends at public expense.

The Changes Needed:

The action needed is relatively straightforward. Efforts to merely reduce the centralization and politicization of the PAB are unlikely to be successful, because there would still be a large and powerful organization with control over information, subject to direction by the Office of the Premier.

Instead, it is necessary to eliminate the PAB in its current form, and to decentralize its operations and functions to each department, with each minister in charge of communications for the department – a model used in many other jurisdictions.

Giving control to the departments and ministers will reduce both the monolithic nature of the PAB and the ease of domination by the Premier’s Office. At the same time, it will still be necessary to act to ensure that department's communications serve non-partisan needs.

Comments from the PIA Democracy Forums:

• Go beyond “reducing” politicization [of the PAB]– eliminate it
• Change the PAB so that it no longer acts as the distributor of PC party policy and information, and so that all departments are more responsible to the public
• Reconstitute the PAB so that it serves non-partisan needs, with each department minister in charge of communications
• Add the word “power” to the things about the PAB that should be reduced
• Also reduce the “partisanship” of the PAB
• Actively work to abolish the PAB as an important early step
• Eliminate the PAB and use the money saved directly for democratic renewal initiatives

PIA advocates six steps to promote democratic renewal in Alberta:

1. Institute comprehensive reform of electoral and political party financing

2. Abolish the Public Affairs Bureau and replace it with a system that is more open and non-partisan

3. Initiate a Citizens' Assembly to make recommendations on proportional representation

4. Strengthen the role of the Legislature and MLAs by further increasing the power of and support for legislative committees and officers

5. Create a high-profile Commission on Gender and Democracy to develop a comprehensive approach to achieving gender equity in our political system

6. Require a more open, thorough and effective approach to public consultation on issues of public policy development