By Canadian Press

after learning of multiple recent trips

Premier Kenney says no punishment for MLAs, government staff who travelled out of country

Jan 1, 2021 | 1:49 PM

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has ordered all cabinet ministers and senior government officials not to vacation outside Canada after learning of multiple recent trips by party officials and employees.

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.

He said he made an error by not issuing a clear directive earlier urging them to remain in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I take responsibility for not having been absolutely clear about this expectation,” Kenney told a news conference Friday.

He added that he does not have a list of those who took foreign vacations. And because they did not break any official rules and followed safe travel guidelines, Kenney said they will not be sanctioned.

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But the premier said those in public positions should be held to a higher standard in their personal conduct.

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

The Opposition NDP called for the resignation of Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard after the CBC reported Thursday that she was in Hawaii over the holidays.

“This is the Premier and the UCP Government lacking moral judgment, lacking any compassion for the 4 million people in Alberta who were told they couldn’t see their parents and grandparents at Christmas,” NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Friday in a statement.

“Premier, you turned people’s lives upside down on Dec. 12 and now you’re trying to weasel out on a technicality? This is a complete failure of leadership.”

Kenney said Allard left for the United States on Dec. 19 and continued to work while away.

He said he learned of her trip Tuesday and asked her to return. She arrived back in Alberta on Thursday.

Allard, the legislature member for Grande Prairie who is also responsible for emergency preparedness, had COVID-19 in October. At the time, Kenney and some other legislature members who had contact with her went into self-isolation after learning of the positive test result.

Kenney said Allard has apologized for her lack in judgment over the trip abroad.

RELATED: Municipal Affairs Minister apologizes for Hawaii vacation

Kenney also said Jamie Huckabay, his chief of staff, travelled to the United Kingdom with his family before Christmas. After learning of the COVID-19 variant in the U.K., Huckabay changed his travel plans and returned to Alberta on Boxing Day, the premier said.

Other provincial politicians have faced stiffer penalties for travel abroad during the pancemic.

Rod Phillips resigned as Ontario’s finance minister on Thursday after returning from a Caribbean vacation.

In Saskatchewan, Highways Minister Joe Hargrave apologized for travelling with his wife to Palm Springs, Calif., to complete the sale of a home. And in Quebec, Liberal assembly member Pierre Arcand was facing heat for a trip with his wife to Barbados.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 1, 2021.