Over a week since the Auditor General released a report into questionable travel expenses by former Premier Alison Redford, the Alberta government has responded, apologizing for the scandal.

Interim Premier Dave Hancock says that the PCs will vow to do better for all Albertans in the wake of the report.

On August 7, the Auditor General released a report into Alison Redford’s travel expenses and other taxpayer funded resources and found she had accrued over $650,000 worth of travel, meal, and hospitality expenses from October 2012 to March 2014.

The report also found that government departments spent $42.1M on travel in 2013-2014 and recommended a review of the use of business class travel for public servants.

Finance Minister Doug Horner announced direct oversight by the Treasury Board Committee into the Premier’s expenses and said there would be five changes made to the use of government aircraft.

They include:

  • Invited guests need to be individually pre-approved and government business explained
  • Requests for flights must include commercial and drive time options for comparison
  • Four times per year, the government will report on the cost and reasons for flights
  • Construct a policy to handle situations where government business is on the same day in the same place as a publicly advertised party event
  • Ban on out-of-province travel will continue

Horner said he is very disappointed the travel scandal occurred in the first place. “I’m very disappointed by what has come about and very disappointed in some trust that I had placed in certain individuals in the past, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, says that someone in government needs to take responsibility for what took place. “Someone in this government and this government in general has to take responsibility first, and then commit to making the kinds of changes that they’re talking about. But this evasion or refusal to accept responsibility is not playing well to Albertans.”

A full review into the travel expenses scandal will be conducted once the PC Party has chosen a new leader.

The report has also been referred to the RCMP.