Earlier in the fall the Tories did exactly what we asked of them when it comes to ministerial and MLA expense disclosure. Unfortunately, the Tories have played games since then when it comes to disclosing past expenses for the Premier and ministers.

Allison goes to the Olympics

It’s been well reported that the Premier led a bureaucratic and political troupe to the Olympics, costing taxpayers a whopping $500,000; blowing the lid off of the original $84,000 price tag that Albertans were originally promised.

But no details were ever disclosed as to the cost the Premier’s own expenses for that trip…until now.

Knowing that the CTF was requesting her expenses in September, the Premier released them herself in October. Yet after going through them with a fine tooth comb, we discovered she didn’t release any details for her time at the London Olympics. 

After an extended period of wrangling with the premier’s office, the Olympic trip expense details were quietly tabled in the Legislative Library with apparently no notice to yours truly or the public.

For those not able to pop by the Legislature, here’s the low down:

The Premier spent $12,555 on her flight from Calgary to London, returning via Paris. She spent an addition $1,860 on hotels and $2,275 on a car service during her time in London. 

Click here to view the original receipts.

Where’s the Beef?

Interestingly, the Premier expensed no food at all during her stay in London. Unless she went hungry or paid out of pocket, this again raises questions about if all information was actually released.

The Premier’s office may have dumped some expenses in the Legislative Library for the public to see, but is it possible that some were held back?

Needless to say, we will persist in asking the Premier to allow our Freedom of Information request to be carried out, so that the full details are disclosed to the public. If necessary, we’re prepared to appeal this matter to the Information Commissioner.

About What Was Expensed Before October…?

The CTF also filed information requests for details on expenses racked up by Deputy Premier Lukaszuk, and ministers Horner, Hancock, Cusanelli, and Klimchuck, but was refused. In their letters of refusal, the Ministers claimed that since their expenses will be posted online in December, they don’t need to provide them to the CTF.

However, the information that will be posted in December only goes back to October 2012; our information requests went back several years. Thus, we’re going to keep fighting to pry open the details of those previous expenses to hold these guys accountable.

Click here to read the ministers’ letters of refusal.

Their response means one of three things:

1. The Tories are refusing to disclose the information by throwing up red tape;
2. The Tories have changed their (otherwise excellent) expense disclosure policy without informing the public (or yours truly) as a result of these FOIs, and will be retroactively releasing their expenses for all to see; or
3. The Tories are confused and this is all just a big multi-ministerial mistake.

For Those Scorekeeping at Home

The CTF also filed similar FOIP requests for the expenses of Jeff Johnson, Ken Hughs, Lindsay Blackett and Ron Leipert. No information has thus far been provided.