EDMONTON—A national democracy watchdog said it’s in the best interest of Premier Jason Kenney and the United Conservatives to be fully open about their government’s spending, amid concerns raised by the official Opposition over expensive foreign trips and a lack of financial transparency.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of Ottawa-based Democracy Watch, said Albertans have the right to know the full details of trips taken to London by Kenney’s principal aide, David Knight-Legg, which have cost taxpayers a total of $18,680 since May.

Knight-Legg has been criticized by the Opposition for staying at five-star hotels during these trips — a four-night stay by Knight-Legg cost taxpayers $1,614 in the beginning of September — and for providing limited information on what he was doing in the British capital.

“The public has a right to know the details of what all public officials are doing on the job, because they are paying the tab,” Conacher said.

Government spokesperson Harrison Fleming said Knight-Legg was in London to meet with major banks, private equity funds and insurers. Fleming added his visits have centred around securing capital investment for Alberta, as well as working on the government’s aim to counter “the misinformation campaign of defamation” against Alberta’s energy sector.

“Due to the commercially sensitive nature of the meetings — and the fact that foreign-funded activists groups are actively targeting Alberta and large companies doing business in our province — the companies are not named,” Fleming said in an emailed statement.

But the Opposition has criticized the government for not being transparent enough about who Knight-Legg met during his trips. NDP MLA Heather Sweet said the government has already allocated $30 million for their Canada Energy Centre — also known as the energy war room — to fight what they said are defamation campaigns against Alberta’s oil and gas.

Activities by the war room are not subject to freedom of information laws, the Alberta government has said previously, as it is a private corporation despite it being funded by taxpayers. This means the public is unable to ask for documents, specific communications and certain other information about the Energy Centre’s operations.

“The question is then, are we using money in both areas?” Sweet asked on Thursday. “You have a $30-million budget on one side, and then you have premier’s staff who are using this as a reason to travel.

“Does the budget get bigger and bigger, and Albertans don’t get to know what they’re actually doing?” Sweet said.

Sweet has also penned an open letter to Doug Wylie, Alberta’s auditor general, to look into spending by Knight-Legg. “The Government of Alberta failed to disclose the travel budget, itinerary or even purpose of travel, contravening long-established precedents for elected officials and political staff on out-of-country travel,” the letter stated.

The government has since responded to the Opposition’s latest criticism. In an emailed statement, Fleming said the government makes “no apologies for fighting to bring investment back to Alberta and forcibly fighting this foreign-funded campaign of defamation against our province.”

In a separate statement to Star Edmonton, Fleming said the auditor general is independent from the government and is free to do whatever it sees fit in regards to Knight-Legg’s expenses.

Conacher, however, said he believes the secrecy surrounding the business Knight-Legg conducted in London may ultimately hurt the government, and it is in their best interest to be as transparent with Albertans as possible.

“When a government claims they have to keep things secret, it just raises more suspicion that the public’s money is being wasted,” Conacher said.

“The fundamental question for any voter is, ‘Can I trust the government to do the right thing?’ ” he said. “If the government is saying we’re keeping the details secret about what we’re doing, it automatically raises the suspicion and decreases the trust by voters.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Conacher added the public has a right to know the full details on government spending, unless it’s a matter of public safety and security, or the release of sensitive material surrounding police investigations.

“Otherwise there’s no justifiable excuse for secrecy,” Conacher said.

Read more about: