Press Statement
Naheed Nenshi, Leader of the Alberta NDP, made the following statement in response to media reports of the Premier, cabinet ministers, and senior staff accepting gifts of expensive playoffs tickets:
“The revelations about multiple ministers, staff members, and the Premier herself attending playoff hockey games on lobbyists’ dimes should come as no surprise to Albertans given the level of cronyism shown by this government.
“Last year, the Premier complained publicly that she wasn’t allowed to go to hockey games with lobbyists and proceeded to change the rules so that she could. So, it’s no surprise that her staff went to a game paid for by the company she awarded the nearly $100 million failed Turkish Tylenol scheme.
“The whole point of the original ethics rules was to make sure that any gifts were reasonable and modest and that they were publicly disclosed as well as to ensure that no one can buy hours of uninterrupted access to politicians and staff. The changes the Premier made to those rules disregard all these principles, leaving the impression that government can be bought by anyone.
“Having ministers and staff sit in lobbyists’ luxury boxes while we are facing an affordability crisis in this province not only looks bad, it shows they’re living in a different world than the average Albertan.
“At the very least, the Premier must now disclose all staff and politicians who have accepted tickets and from whom, as well as who paid for all travel; commit to an all-party process to strengthen ethics rules and disclosures, including removing the carte blanche for the Premier’s Chief of Staff to approve any gift of any amount; finally give us a full accounting of the Turkish Tylenol fiasco, including which lobbyists met with which politicians and staff.”
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Pinoy Edmonton News 