EDMONTON: Today, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) launched www.EdmontonVotes.ca, a direct link to Edmonton City Council voting records from 2001-2007. Also unveiled was a new mobile billboard asking Edmontonians if they know "Which City Councillor voted 172 times to hike YOUR taxes "

The website arranges voting records by candidate, year and category.

Categories include:

• Tax/Fee Increases
• Tax/Fee Decreases
• Council Salary/Benefit Increases
• Non-core/Unnecessary Spending
• Accountability/Democratic Reform Increases
• Accountability/Democratic Reform Decreases

"There are no political parties or slates in Edmonton's civic politics, and as such, many Edmontonians don't know where their representatives stand on issues of taxes, spending, council pay hikes and accountability. This website is the best place to find the cold, hard facts about who has been representing them on council," stated CTF-Alberta director Scott Hennig.

"Those Edmontonians who are upset about tax hikes that are double the inflation rate, 21 per cent council pay and perk hikes and council spending money on yo-yos rather than snow clearing and pot-hole filling, need to visit our website and find out who's to blame," continued Hennig.

"Many of the incumbent candidates are running for re-election on a platform of 'fiscal responsibility' or 'value for tax dollars' when their records don't match their words," said Hennig. "This website hopes to expose their real 'platform'," concluded Hennig.

Also available on www.EdmontonVotes.ca, are candidate information cards, summarizing their voting records and highlighting a few key votes from the past six years.

All of these voting records are publicly available on the City of Edmonton website, but not in this format. Further, this is not a complete record of voting, as all process motions and zoning by-law votes were excluded. Spending on core city responsibilities (fire, police, traffic, infrastructure, etc.) is also not included.

Photos from today's event:

Picture of Billboard

Scott Hennig in 24K Mobile Truck

Scott Hennig next to Billboard

Alberta Municipal elections

The CTF has taken an active role in Alberta's upcoming municipal elections. The following links will take you to various discussion on important taxpayer issues concerning the elections.

•  Calgary City Council Severance Pay Calculations
• Edmonton City Council Severance Pay Calculations
• Taxpayers stonewalled by City of Calgary on new taxing powers
• Edmonton City Council voting records
• www.EdmontonVotes.ca
• CTF to candidates: Time to show your donors.
• Edmonton candidate survey results
• Calgary candidate survey results