Canada PoliticsIs the Alberta PC brand still salvageable?
During a telephone town-hall meeting on Monday night, Jim Prentice told listeners that he intends to "earn the trust and faith" of all Albertans.
"I said very clearly the bonds of trust between Albertans and their government has been severely strained," Prentice, the front runner to win the Progressive Conservative party leadership, said.
Well, thanks to recent and not so recent events, that trust — between the people of Alberta and the PC party — is strained, broken and falling into millions of pieces.
As reported by CBC News, on Tuesday, a leaked Auditor General's report suggests that former Premier Alison Redford's team actually tried to block other passengers from joining her on taxpayer-funded planes.
"We were 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," the report states.
"The implications of this practice were that other government employees or elected officials would not have been able to travel on those aircraft," the report states, adding that "both Premier Redford and the former chief of staff [Farouk Adatia] denied any knowledge of this practice."
The report also claims that Redford received "a personal benefit by having her daughter accompany her on government aircraft" over 50 times between 2008 and 2014.
[ Related: Premier Alison Redford’s flights had ‘false passengers,’ auditor general says ]
Redford was forced to resign in March after coming under fire for her questionable travel expenses, her budget woes and 'alleged bullying'.
Since she stepped down she's been criticized for allegedly ordering a penthouse suite— as premier — to be built for her and her daughter in a federal government building in downtown Edmonton. She's also been scrutinized for her very poor attendance record in the legislature since resigning as premier.
[ Related: Jim Prentice seeks to change public sentiment towards Alberta's Progressive Conservatives ]
But the Redford legacy isn't the PCs only problem.
On Monday it was reported that the PC government secretly scrubbed a three year salary freeze on senior management -- essentially giving raises to those who make up to $275,000/year.
"Chalk it up as another broken promise on what seems to be a never ending list,” Wildrose Finance Critic Rob Anderson said in a statement.
"It appears the PCs thought they could quietly sneak through a pay hike for their senior appointees and insiders in the middle of summer without anybody noticing they were breaking their word.
"The PC culture of entitlement hasn’t died with the Redford era. It still lives on."
The Wildrose narrative — that the PC culture of entitlement continues post-Redford — seems to be gaining some steam.
A recent Leger survey suggests Danielle Smith’s Wildrose party is at 25 per cent in the polls compared to a Jim Prentice-led PC party at only 19 per cent.
Prentice says he wants to earn the faith and trust of Albertans.
The problem is that while he waits to take the job — in September — the party's 'baggage' keeps piling-up.
(Photo courtesy of The Canadian Press)
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