Opposition MLA's are speaking out against a bill the government is trumpeting as making political donations more transparent.

“This is the government that's passed a bunch of legislation to shield themselves, rather than to shine the light of accountability and I think people will see through it,” said Wildrose leader Danielle Smith.

Bill 7 or the Election Accountability Amendment Act was introduced following an ongoing CBC News investigation that revealed numerous illegal political donations to the province's governing Progressive Conservative party.

The law will compel for the first time political parties to release the identity of anyone who donated over $250, while fines for infractions under the act will increase from $1,000 to $10,000.

The Wildrose Party also vainly sought changes, dubbed the Katz amendment, to close loopholes in contribution limits, which remain at $30,000 for individuals and organizations.

Edmonton Oilers' owner Daryl Katz is reported to have written a single $430,000 cheque to the provincial Tories during the spring election, but split the donation amongst family and business associates.

That amendment was defeated by the Conservatives, who said there are already such rules in place.

“We think that that was a loophole that needed to be closed and it's disappointing that the government refused to do that,” Smith said.

The Redford government has promoted the bill, saying it makes donations more transparent and allows the chief electoral officer to identify lawbreakers.

But the bill will only allow people to be named in cases from 2010 or later, giving ammunition to opposition MLAs who say the bill is anything but transparent because only a fraction of cases under investigation will be made public.

Justice Minister Jonathan Denis said the changes strike a careful balance, and that it would be unfair to go too far back.

“An analogous thing would be is if you have a speed limit of 50 on a particular road and then you change it to 30 [km/hr] … and want to charge people on that basis,” he said.

The bill, the final on the legislature's fall agenda, is expected to pass as soon as Wednesday afternoon.