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If passed, an Alberta government plan will see taxpayer dollars help fund the province’s election campaigns.

The recommendation was made by Edmonton-Ellerslie NDP MLA Rod Loyola in Wednesday’s ethics committee meeting. He proposed parties and candidates get a rebate for half of their campaign expenses, as long as they get at least 10 per cent of the vote.

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It immediately drew the ire of Wildrose MLA Scott Cyr, who called the recommendation “obscene,” “offensive” and “disingenuous.”

With provincial coffers in crisis and thousands of Albertans out of work, asked the member for Bonnyville-Cold Lake, why should political parties get taxpayer dollars?

Cyr said Alberta’s current 75-per-cent tax credit for individual political donations is already too generous, and expanding that to a 50-per-cent rebate for all candidates would siphon away money needed for hospitals and schools.

“This is just a weird direction,” he said.

“How can we move forward with this, something that dramatically changes how our entire system works, without consulting Albertans?”

NDP committee members said there would be plenty of time for debate on the floor of the assembly.

Opposition members of the committee from the Wildrose and Progressive Conservatives parties disagreed, saying they were blindsided by the proposal and needed time to discuss the proposed changes with their constituents.