#CANADA: Alberta Cabinet Minister, Premier's Chief of Staff Resign Over Holiday Travel

[world politics news] 

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has accepted the resignations of Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard as minister of municipal affairs and of Jamie Huckabay, his chief of staff. 

World Politics News posted yesterday that Allard had been under fire for taking a holiday in Hawaii over the Christmas break.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Kenney said he has also demoted five other United Conservative Party MLAs who travelled internationally over the holidays. 

"Albertans have every right to expect that people in positions of public trust be held to a higher standard of conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic," he wrote.

"Millions of Albertans have made real sacrifices over the past 10 months to help keep each other safe. They are right to be angry about people in positions of leadership vacationing outside of the country.

By travelling abroad over the holidays, these individuals demonstrated extremely poor judgment."

Allard and Huckabay join a growing number of politicians across Canada who have admitted to travelling outside the country despite pandemic restrictions, leading to resignations in some cases. They include former Ontario finance minister Rod Phillips, a Progressive Conservative; Liberal MP Kamal Khera; and New Democrat MP Niki Ashton.

[FULL STORY HERE] 

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#CANADA: Backlash After Alberta Gov't Minister Vacations In Hawaii

[world politics news] 

Tracy Allard, Alberta's Minister of Municipal Affairs, is taking heat for vacationing for two weeks in Hawaii during the coronavirus outbreak last month.

Allard, who is a United Conservative Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Grande Prairie, left for a family vacation in Hawaii on Dec. 19 and just returned this week.

In response to backlash, the United Conservative Party Member of the Legislative Assembly said the trip with her immediate family had been "fully compliant" with the province's health orders and that she had felt its border testing pilot offered a safe way to carry through with the tradition, but in retrospect, that she could see that it was "the wrong decision."

Allard became an MLA when she was elected in April, 2019. She entered the cabinet of Premier Jason Kenney in August, 2020.

Allard is apparently not alone. there were reportedly up to nine other members of Kenney's government traveling overseas during the holidays.

Nationally, two Liberal MPs have reportedly resigned from their government and House of Commons roles after admitting to recently traveling overseas. MP Sameer Zuberi stepped down from multiple committee roles while Kamal Khera resigned as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of International Development.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.