‘Zero possibility’ Alberta premier unaware of jet-setting colleagues, says former deputy premier

Politicians past and present are casting doubt on Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s claim he didn’t know senior government officials were travelling outside of the country over the holidays.

“When you’re sitting in Parliament, you can never call another person a liar because that’s unparliamentary. You always like to give the person at least a shred of the benefit of the doubt,” said former Alberta Progressive Conservative politician Thomas Lukaszuk.

“I have to tell you, as an MLA for nearly 15 years, a cabinet minister for half of that and deputy premier — and (after) talking to ministers from other governments — there is literally zero possibility that the premier did not know.”

At least eight senior members of the UCP government, including Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard, Kenney’s chief of staff Jamie Huckabay and several MLAS, ditched Alberta to travel to places such as the United Kingdom, Hawaii and Las Vegas.

Kenney said he learned of Allard’s vacation to the Aloha State 11 days after she departed on Dec. 19 and immediately asked her to return home, the premier announced Friday. He also confirmed Huckabay had travelled to Britain and returned to Canada via the United States with his family.

“I think it was a significant error in judgment,” said Kenney on Friday. “There’s a reasonable public expectation that we will be held to a higher standard than simply complying with the rules. People are right to be frustrated by that.”

No disciplinary action was taken by the premier despite an active advisory against non-essential travel outside of Canada by the provincial and federal governments. He shouldered the blame, saying he should have issued clear guidance against travel to members of his government.

Lukaszuk said there is a form submission process when ministers plan to be away from the office, which Allard referenced during a separate news conference on Friday.

He said these memorandums, which include contact information, a substitute representative and dates of travel, were sent directly to the premier, chief of staff and party whip during his time in office.

Harrison Fleming, deputy press secretary to the officer of the premier, said the letter does not indicate specific holiday plans or locations.

“This is a routine notification form and not a request for approval,” said Fleming in a statement. “(It) is a letter that designates an alternate minister who can have statutory signing authority.”

The province declined to provide Postmedia with a blank copy of the letter.

“If Kenney tells you he didn’t know, there are really three options. Either he is lying, he is incompetent and doesn’t read those important memos or he’s negligent,” said Lukaszuk.

“The chief of staff lives the premier’s life. He is a shadow. He is in charge of the entire bureaucracy. The premier knows far in advance if the chief of staff goes anywhere.”

Fleming declined to give specifics on how Kenney became aware of Allard and Huckabay’s out-of-province trips.

In Ontario, finance minister Rod Phillips resigned his cabinet post after news broke that he took a personal trip to the Caribbean over Christmas. Ontario Premier Doug Ford admitted to having knowledge of his trip.

Lukaszuk said Ford did the “right thing” and Kenney should follow suit.

“It’s never too late to do the right thing,” he said.