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Alberta Premier Alison Redford is well down the road to transforming what should be a minor embarrassment into an example of tone-deaf politics.

Ms. Redford was already the target of complaints about her personal spending habits and love of travel when the opportunity arose to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral in South Africa. She made a last-minute decision to attend, didn’t pay enough attention to the details and returned home to cries of horror when it was revealed she’d spent $45,000 on the trip.

Bad as that was, she compounded the mistake Wednesday by appearing to suggest she bore no responsibility for the overpayment, as if she’d been bundled onto the plane inside a duffle bag and flown across the ocean against her will.

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Redford has been criticized for not keeping a closer eye on the costs of the trip and the Opposition Wildrose party had demanded she repay the entire amount.

Redford was invited to be part of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s delegation in December.

“From my perspective this was a trip that was part of the Canadian delegation. It was business of the government of Alberta and I attended on that basis,” she said. “I certainly take responsibility for the processes within place and I do apologize for that.

“It was very interesting for me to have the opportunity during that trip to have discussions with others who were on that trip with respect to work in Alberta. I do think it is part of the work a premier is asked to do.”