Officials who left Alberta not penalized

EDMONTON, Alberta — The premier of Canada’s western province of Alberta said he will not punish members of his government for vacationing outside Canada despite government guidelines urging people to avoid nonessential travel.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said he learned this week of travel abroad by a “few” legislature members, senior staff and officials with the United Conservative government, including his municipal affairs minister and his chief of staff.

Kenney said he made an error by not issuing a clear directive urging them to remain in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said those in public positions should be held to a higher standard in their personal conduct but said he won’t sanction them.

Politicians traveling abroad for vacations during the pandemic became a big story in Canada this week after it became known that Ontario’s finance minister went to the luxury Caribbean island of St. Barts for weeks and seemingly tried to hide it by sending social media posts showing him in a sweater before a fireplace. Rod Phillips resigned Thursday after being ordered home by Ontario Conservative Premier Doug Ford.

But in Alberta, Kenney declined to sanction members of his party.

At least one top health official said he’s had enough.

“I’m fed up with politicians who just don’t care,” said Dr. Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto and the medical director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Sinai-university Health Network. “And the public needs to be fed up as well.”

Kenney said he has ordered all Cabinet ministers and senior government officials not to vacation outside Canada.

“We should be here at home, plain and simple, if we carry a position of public trust,” Kenney said.