Cabinet ministers under fire for holiday vacations
A day after Ontario’s finance minister resigned from his cabinet position for vacationing in the Caribbean during a provincewide lockdown, Alberta’s municipal affairs minister has been forgiven for a similar trip to Hawaii.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Friday he erred by not issuing a clear directive that cabinet ministers and senior government officials not travel outside Canada during the pandemic.
The opposition NDP had called for the resignation of Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard after it was revealed she took a vacation in Hawaii over the holidays. Kenney says Allard left on Dec. 19 and continued to work while on holiday, but he only learned of her trip on Tuesday and he asked her to return.
Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips travelled to St. Barts on Dec. 13 despite provincial guidelines urging people to avoid all non-essential travel. Premier Doug Ford announced the finance minister’s resignation in a written statement on Thursday.
“At a time when the people of Ontario have sacrificed so much, today’s resignation is a demonstration that our government takes seriously our obligation to hold ourselves to a higher standard,” Ford said.
The premier said he has asked Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy to assume the role of minister of finance and deliver the government’s 2021 budget.
Upon his arrival at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Thursday morning, Phillips told reporters he wanted to stay on as finance minister.
“There’s very important work that still needs to be done, and I’d like to continue to be a part of that. But I do understand, people are angry, they deserve to be angry, I have to earn back their confidence,” he said.
Ford said he first learned about the trip shortly after Phillips arrived in St. Barts. He said he should have asked the finance minister to immediately return to Ontario, but he didn’t — calling it a mistake.
Phillips, who will remain a member of the provincial legislature, said Thursday that he regrets his decision.
“It was a significant error in judgment, a dumb, dumb mistake,” Phillips said. “Again, I apologize for it, I regret it, but all I can do now is make that apology and move forward.”
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath criticized Ford for his role in the leadup to Phillips’ resignation.
“Doug Ford knew about Rod Phillips’ trip to St. Barts two weeks ago,” she said. “Not only did Ford not fire him then, he helped him keep the trip a secret. Phillips’ resignation from cabinet today is not because of Phillips’ vacation, it’s because they got caught.”