Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman released the following statement on the resignation of former premier Alison Redford as MLA for Calgary-Elbow:
Statement by Raj Sherman – Redford resignation is not the end of the story
“Former premier Alison Redford’s resignation as the MLA for Calgary-Elbow is both long overdue and a sad ending to a career which once held so much promise.
“While it may be difficult to remember now, there was a time when a great many Albertans hoped Ms. Redford would be an agent for positive change in Alberta after years of PC scandal and mismanagement. That these hopes were so completely unrealized is not something to celebrate. Albertans still yearn for good government that puts their needs first, instead of constant scandal and incompetence.
“But, we must remember that this is typical of how the PC government operates: deny any wrongdoing, avoid accountability, and then try to be seen as doing the right thing once a scandal cannot be controlled.
“There are two things we must remember now.
“The first is that, based on what we have already seen of the Auditor General’s report into fake seat bookings on the former premier’s plane, we clearly need the RCMP to investigate this wasteful misuse of government flights.
“The second is that the Finance Minister also needs to be held to account. Doug Horner is the minister responsible for the government fleet of airplanes.
“The leaked draft of the Auditor General’s report states that he was told by the premier’s office staff and ‘multiple staff from the Department of Treasury Board and Finance that for certain flights the remaining seats available on the plane were blocked to restrict access to Premier Redford on the aircraft.’
“There was clearly abuse of taxpayer resources. Since the Finace Minister’s staffers knew about this abuse, the question is, why didn’t he stop it? Did he not know, or did he turn a blind eye to it? Either way, he failed in his duty to stop this abuse and to protect the hard-earned tax dollars of Albertans. He should resign.
“I will reiterate that the RCMP needs to be called in to investigate. Albertans have a right to know what happened to their money, who gave the order for these abuses, and when the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board became aware of them.”
