Politics

Eight Canadian politicians visit other countries after governments discourage nonessential international travel

by Charlie Smith on January 1st, 2021 at 8:01 PM
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      There's a growing list of politicians who've taken trips outside of the country despite governments telling their residents to stay home.

      Today, Alberta premier Jason Kenney revealed that his municipal affairs minister, Tracy Allard, took a vacation in Hawaii.

      Allard is also the minister responsible for overseeing the Emergency Management Act.

      She said that her trip was a "lapse in judgement", noting that Hawaii vacations at this time of year are a tradition in her family.

      Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley has called on Allard to resign.

      Kenney chose not to discipline her.

      Instead he has barred out-of-country trips in the future for politicians and senior political staff if they're not on government business.

      CBC News reported that United Conservative MLA Jeremy Nixon also travelled to Hawaii. Another United Conservative MLA, Pat Rehn, went to Mexico.

      In addition, Kenney's chief of staff, Jamie Huckabay, travelled to the United Kingdom.

      Huckabay returned on Boxing Day via the United States. That's because all direct flights from the U.K. to Canada were halted due to a highly infectious variant of COVID-19.

      NDP MP Niki Ashton visited her sick grandmother in Greece.

      Ashton loses shadow-critic roles

      It's not just in Alberta where politicians jetted out of the country. Saskatchewan highways minister Joe Hargrave said he's sorry for travelling to Palm Springs to complete a property sale.

      And today, the NDP revoked Churchill-Keewatinook Aski MP Niki Ashton's shadow-critic roles after she travelled to Greece to visit her sick grandmother.

      The NDP said that she did not inform the leader or the party whip of her plan to travel abroad.

      These reports came after Ontario finance minister Rod Phillips resigned after taking a Caribbean vacation in St. Barts.

      Phillips came under fire not only for leaving the country, but also for tweets that left the impression that he was at home in Canada over the holidays.

      One of those who condemned his actions as "dumb" was Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, whose husband lives in Oklahoma. She remained in Canada over the holidays because she knew that if she left the country, she would have been vilified.

      Video: Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner expressed her frustration with Rod Phillips on YouTube.

      In Quebec, the former interim leader of the provincial Liberals, Pierre Arcand, took a vacation in Barbados over the holidays. Like the others, he expressed regret but insisted that he was following public-health guidelines.

      Another Quebec MNA, Youri Chassin of the Coalition Avenue Québec, travelled to Peru tp spend time with his spouse. He had not seen his husband in a year and received permission for the trip from the premier's office, even though François Legault urged residents to stay home.

      To date, there have been no reports of any B.C. MLAs leaving the country in December.

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