It’s been a difficult summer for Tory leading lights.

In July the RCMP laid 31 charges against Mike Duffy, a Conservative senator and important party fundraiser. The list of allegations reads as though Duffy had absolutely no qualms about abusing Canadians’ trust and using their tax dollars to pad his personal bank accounts.

The upcoming trial may even implicate the Prime Minister’s Office.

And let’s not forget that an RCMP investigation into Conservative Senator Pamela Wallin’s spending habits is ongoing.

And then last week Alberta’s auditor general delivered a damning report on the spending habits of former premier Alison Redford.

Acting premier Dave Hancock quickly shoved the matter off his desk and sent it to the RCMP.

As if the RCMP doesn’t have enough to do. These constant investigations of politicians must really be cutting into its budget.

Merwan Saher’s report on the cost of Redford’s travel, accommodation and plans for personal suite in a government building reads like a short detective novel as each page reveals more and more about how Redford and her team completely disregarded government regulations on travel and accommodation costs and simply racked up bills for the taxpayer to cover apparently without a second thought.

All of this at a time when health and education budgets were being cut and the government was borrowing money to cover the budget deficit.

Here are a few examples of heedless excess detailed by Saher that would make any Canadian’s blood boil.

On the India/Switzerland mission in January 2014, Premier Redford’s planned travel to Afghanistan was cancelled. So the premier and her staff found themselves with two extra days in the schedule. Rather than stay in New Delhi or arrive early in Zurich (their next official stop) they flew from New Delhi to London for the weekend and then over to Zurich.

The premier and her staff usually flew full business class (two to four times higher than restricted business class) even though government policy dictates economy class.

The premier used the government fleet of four aircraft to ferry her to family gatherings, PC fundraisers, as transportation for her daughter and as a sort of private office. If she didn’t want to sit with other government types her staff would block most of the seats so she could have the plane to herself.

Saher also found that while Redford’s staff filed travel expense reports and receipts per regulations, there was little supporting documentation regarding the purpose of the trip or the rationale for not using the least expensive option available.

Now Albertans are wondering if all premiers were so cavalier about their travel and accommodation and Redford was simply caught in the act.

Ralph Klein used the government aircraft as though they were limousines and once accused a Liberal MLA of calling him a liar when she pointed out that a government plane had dropped him off at a golf course in Nova Scotia.

In light of the Senate scandals, it’s hard to believe that it was only eight years ago that Stephen Harper was elected prime minister on the heels of the Liberals’ Adscam sleaze with promises to clean up government. Or that Preston Manning’s zealous Reformers, where Harper began his political career, could be so righteous about the Liberals’ spending habits.

It’s hard to believe that Albertans, never big fans of the federal Liberals, were so outraged by the Adscam scandal because it further confirmed their belief that the Liberals’ sense of entitlement had no bounds.

And yet here in Alberta, the governing PCs seem to have no bounds when it comes to a sense of entitlement. The auditor general called it “the aura of power” that emanated from Redford’s office and chilled any resistance or questioning from the start.

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It’s depressing to see this cycle of entitlement and corruption just keeps rolling along no matter which party controls the reins of government.

Perhaps Canadians’ outrage will eventually turn things around.

Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and journalist and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald. Her column usually appears every other week.

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