Since the lavish spending claims of a now former AHS executive, and a pricey government trip to the London 2012 Olympics, the province’s spending habits have been under greater scrutiny. And the latest to come under fire is Premier Alison Redford.
The opposition has cried foul over the Alberta Premier’s travels, even though Redford maintains the return on investment is high.
Since becoming Premier just over a year ago, Redford has been on a total of eight official trips, which have taken her around the world.
From Washington to New York, Toronto, and China, the total cost of her trips, excluding her last one to London, is nearly $246,000.
To put that into perspective, in his last year in office, former Premier Ed Stelmach spent about $98,000 on travel. Provincial Affairs reporter Vassy Kapelos also looked at the expenses of premiers of two other provinces, which are both export-based.
She found that in Saskatchewan, Premier Brad Wall spent $90,000 in the last fiscal year on travel. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty spent $6,000.*
So are Albertans getting bang for their buck? Is all the travel worth it? The answer depends on who you ask.
“I think the Premier has to represent Alberta on the international stage,” says Wildrose leader, Danielle Smith. “I think where we raise concerns is at the level of some of the expenses. Staying at a $900 a night hotel, not disclosing how she and her crew managed to spend $2,400 dollars a day in London.”
“I’m not at all surprised the opposition would criticize it,” Redford defends. “Because during the election it was pretty clear that they didn’t believe it was important for us to do more outside our borders. I was very clear during the election that I thought it was important for us to do that in order to expand our trade markets.”
Political scientist Chaldeans Mensah believes prudent planning is key, though.
“What the public of Alberta needs is for the net benefit of these trips to be clearly outlined – and then for proper planning to ensure that public funds are being used appropriately.”
*In the calculations Global Edmonton used, the premier’s expenses are provided by the province, as a total with that of her staff for each trip. They are all available on the province’s website. Dalton McGuinty’s expenses did not include staff.
With files from Vassy Kapelos, Global News
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