Redford releases all expenses from time in government

EDMONTON – As the Alberta government remains under fire for the hefty price tag of its official trip to the London 2012 Olympics, Premier Alison Redford is taking a step towards greater transparency by releasing all her expenses.

The expenses date back to 2008, when she became an MLA, and include her travel, meal and hosting charges.

Global Edmonton’s Jenna Bridges read through the documents and selected some highlights, which can be viewed below.

Some of the charges include $12,504.31 first class airfare to and from Hong Kong, $1,280 for photos taken while there, a $934 hotel room in Washington, D.C., and an annual membership renewal to the Law Society of Alberta. You can see some of her restaurant bills in the documents as well.

There was also an unused $648 room charge at Hotel Giraffe in New York that the province couldn’t cancel. A note on the expense form says, “Program change after hotel contract signed.”

The Premier’s receipts released Tuesday do not include those from the Redford’s most recent mission to the London Olympics. However a basic travel report unveiled Monday showed the province lost nearly $114,000 on unused hotel rooms in London.

The release of Redford’s expenses comes just as Alberta’s new expense disclosure policy has come into effect. It’s being touted as the toughest and most transparent one in the country, making government officials’ expenses from October 1st onwards public. You’ll be able to view those charges online beginning in December.

Alison Redford’s Expenses dating back to 2008

With files from Vassy Kapelos and Jenna Bridges, Global News and Keith Gerein and Karen Kleiss, Postmedia News