News Release
UCP MINISTER BILLED TAXPAYERS FOR STAFF’S HUSBAND TO VISIT 11 KENTUCKY DISTILLERY “BOOZE CRUISES”
EDMONTON – Alberta taxpayers appear to have been stuck with the tab for a failed UCP candidate married to a ministerial chief of staff who accompanied Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally on his September 2025 trip through Kentucky’s bourbon country, according to government expense records. The trip, which cost taxpayers more than $20,000, included an itinerary featuring visits to 11 bourbon distilleries. Among those travelling with Nally were his chief of staff, Pam Davidson, and her husband, Gary Davidson, a former UCP candidate who unsuccessfully sought the Red Deer-South nomination.
“This was a booze cruise, plain and simple, and it is unacceptable that the government charged taxpayers for the travel of the spouse of a political staffer,” said Gurinder Brar, Alberta NDP Shadow Minister for Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction.
Mr. Davidson was listed in the minister’s pre-trip briefing binder only as an unnamed “additional guest.” Alberta’s NDP caucus previously identified him in official photographs taken at two different distilleries. Records obtained through an access-to-information request (attached) suggest the government rolled the additional guest’s transportation costs into the expenses claimed for the official delegation. Nally, his chief of staff, his deputy minister and the additional guest travelled together in a chauffeured vehicle between distilleries. Despite there being four passengers, the booking instructions directed that the costs be split among just three people: “Total cost for the day to be divided between the three names above.” An invoice from Sip Tours, a Kentucky bourbon tour company whose slogan is “You Sip. We Drive,” shows no separate payment by Mr. Davidson.
In a September 9 email, a ministry official asked how to “address the charges for the additional guest.” The released records contain no evidence that Mr. Davidson reimbursed the government for his share of the expenses, estimated at approximately $2,000CAD. The only reimbursement documented for Ms. Davidson was $10 for food at her hotel.
The official itinerary included stops at Michter’s, Woodford Reserve, Whiskey Thief, Maker’s Mark, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Angel’s Envy, Rabbit Hole, Kentucky Peerless, New Riff and Wenzel Distillery. On one day of the trip, a pre-booked vehicle was cancelled, leaving taxpayers with an additional $200 cancellation fee. Ms. Davidson subsequently billed taxpayers for rideshare transportation. Nally and his chief of staff alone expensed approximately $5,400 for the bourbon tours, according to government expense disclosures.
“The minister must pay back the inappropriate $5,400 expense for the booze cruise immediately,” Brar said.
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Attachment: official itinerary and freedom of information records
