MLA can expect caucus grilling
Steve Young publicly chastised Redford for big spending on trip
Tory MLAs rallied around Premier Alison Redford on Wednesday after her former party whip publicly chastised her for spending $45,000 on a trip to South Africa, but Steve Young will have to answer for his criticism in front of his caucus colleagues.
The Edmonton Riverview MLA was summoned by his successor as whip, George VanderBurg, to explain his comments, but the matter is expected to be raised Thursday at an all-day meeting of the Progressive Conservative caucus in Edmonton.
MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said Young crossed the line of what is acceptable for MLAs to say about their own leaders, and has brought on a showdown with Redford.
“It’s essentially an attack on the leader,” Mensah said. “He has crossed the line and it’s an open challenge to the premier. It will be interesting to see how she responds to it.”
The danger of kicking Young out of caucus is that it could amplify the controversy and resurrect questions about her leadership just three months after Redford won a decisive review vote from PC party members, he said.
However, Redford has to respond in some way to demonstrate her control of caucus, Mensah added.
“There will be some kind of reckoning for Mr. Young, but the question is, is it an outright removal from caucus?” he said.
Both Redford and Young moved Wednesday to calm the political waters.
Redford’s press secretary Neala Barton said in an email the premier is proud of the fact Tory MLAs are able to speak their minds in their communities and in caucus.
“Steve Young simply echoed what the premier herself said — that mistakes were made and that she was disappointed by the costs,” Barton said.
“The premier has apologized and taken responsibility. That’s precisely what she’ll communicate to her caucus.”
Young said he will leave it for caucus to decide his fate.
“I don’t want to get into a back and forth in public,” he said. “This is not an issue between me and the premier. It’s about the whole caucus.”
Young, a former Edmonton police sergeant who was appointed to cabinet in December and then abruptly dropped before the swearingin ceremony, told the Herald on Tuesday that the premier’s spending of $45,000 “is inconsistent with Alberta values.”
“People sometimes say to me: ‘Do you like the premier?’ Liking doesn’t have anything to do with it. If I’m going for a beer, I’m not gonna go with her. I’m more likely to go for a beer with (Wildrose MLA) Ian Donovan.”
Cabinet ministers and backbench MLAs were supportive of their leader, but reluctant to get drawn into the feud.
In Calgary, Education Minister Jeff Johnson said as far as he is concerned, the premier has dealt with the issue of her expenses for the South African trip.
“She apologized and she made it clear that if she had known what she knows now before she went on the trip, she wouldn’t have gone,” Johnson said.