A report published earlier today from Alberta’s Auditor General Merwan Saher found that former premier Redford and her office used public resources inappropriately.
Here are some of the highlights covered in the 44-page report that cost a total of $485,400 to make:
The South Africa Trip (December 2013):
Almost $45,000 was spent on having Redford and her executive assistant fly to South Africa for Nelson Mandela’s funeral.
However, Redford insisted on bringing her assistant on the trip, even though the federal government’s delegation had all of the logistics organized, and didn’t have room for the assistant on the federal plane.
She also had the province’s plane fly the two of them back so she could make it to a cabinet swearing-in.
According to the report, she could have made that ceremony even if she’d flown back on Ottawa’s plane instead.
After heavy scrutiny, Redford re-paid the cost of the trip.
Trade Mission to India & Switzerland (January 2014):
Redford claimed $131,374 dollars in travel expenses for her and her staff on the trip.
However, the report found that costs related to advance planning, security, and other government employees put the real cost up to about $450,000.
PC Party events:
The report found five different instances where Redford used a government plane to fly to government events that coincided with PC Party events.
One of those times was last October, when Redford came to Fort McMurray for a PC Party Leader’s Dinner.
The day before, she had been at the announcement for the region’s first oil sands ethane ethylene production facility.
On three occasions, Redford used the government plane to attend PC fundraisers in cities where no government events were scheduled – a Leader’s Dinner in Grande Prairie on October 25, a PC Board of Directors meeting in Red Deer on June 15, and a golf tournament in Lethbridge on August 26.
In a statement released today, PC Alberta President Jim McCormick said the party would pay back the $6,500 it cost for Redford to attend the three events.
Personal Flights:
In March 2013, Redford, her daughter, and a special assistant flew on a government plane to Vancouver to attend the funeral for Redford’s uncle.
After the plans to use the government plane was set, two meetings were scheduled for Redford to attend between March 22 and March 25.
For that trip, Redford re-paid $1,624 ($184 for one night’s hotel stay, and $1,440 for the estimated price of two commercial flights) of the $5,663 that the trip cost.
In June 2013, Redford, her daughter, her daughter’s friend, and an executive assistant, flew to Jasper from June 28 to 30.
During that time, Redford attended three meetings – with Fairmont Hotel officials, Jasper National Park staff, and a local artist.
Of the $5,761 price tag for the trip, no costs were recovered.
Flights with her daughter:
The report found that Premier Redford’s daughter flew on the plane 50 times between September 2011 and March 2014.
Four times, her daughter brought a friend, and twice, her daughter flew without Redford on the flight.
The audit found that her daughter didn’t have a documented government reason to fly on any of those occasions.
In December 2012, Redford was already booked to fly commercially to Scottsdale, Arizona for the Western Governors Association meeting.
For an undocumented reason, that flight was cancelled in favour of a trip in the government plane with Redford, her daughter, and a security guard.
The GoA flight left on the same day, within hours of the cancelled commercial option.
The trip ended up costing more than $10,000.
In April 2013, Redford and her daughter took a government plane from Palm Springs, California to Calgary, so she could attend Ralph Klein’s funeral.
Though her office staff gave the former premier commercial options, they say she insisted on using the government’s plane.
That trip also cost more than $10,000.
In July 2013, Redford travelled to a Council of the Federation meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
The Ministry of International and Intergovernmental Relations inquired about commercial flights for the GoA delegation, but the premier’s office staff booked the government plane instead.
Both Redford’s daughter and one of her friends were on the plane, and there was no reason given for why the trip wasn’t taken commercially.
The price tag for that trip was almost $14,000.
Block booking seats:
The report found that the premier’s staff booked fake passengers, using names like passenger 5 or passenger 6, to fill flights before they were removed when the manifest was printed.
The report says Redford and her former chief of staff denied knowing it was going on, but interviews conducted revealed the block booking idea came from the office.
12 flights between January and March of this year showed the trip sheets with the fake passengers manually crossed off.
Premier’s Suite:
Original plans made in 2010 were for the suite in the 10th and 11th floors of the Edmonton Federal Building to have meeting and hosting space.
In May 2012, the premier’s office directly contacted the architect behind the design, and instructed them to design the suite to include a premier’s den.
That design change cost about $173,000.
That proposal included “two rooms with sleeping and grooming quarters with clothes storage for an adult and one teenager.”
After Redford resigned as premier, the bedrooms were changed back to meeting rooms in the design.
Auditor General’s Six Recommendations:
Recommendation 1: Oversight of premier’s office expenses and use of government aircraft.
The report claims that a lack of accountability placed on the role of the premier helped contribute to the situation.
It said that in these cases, government aircraft policy was clearly not followed, as Redford used the plane for personal and partisan activities.
Recommendation 2: Conduct periodic air transportation services program evaluations
The report asks the Department of Treasury Board and Finance to evaluate the operation of a government fleet, and release it publicly.
Recommendations 3 & 4: Clarify aircraft use policies
The report asks the Department of Treasury Board and Finance to clarify policies that deal with personal or partisan use of the aircraft.
It also recommends detailing the requirements of a cost effectiveness evaluation , for ministries requesting to use it.
Recommendation 5: Re-evaluate out-of-province use of government aircraft
The report recommends that a cost benefit analysis be done prior to any flight out of Alberta, that must be documented and approved by the minister that’s requesting the trip.
Recommendation 6: Report the cost of using government aircraft
The report recommends that to be fully transparent, the costs associated with flying with the government fleet should be publicly released.
