The Wildrose party is calling on Premier Alison Redford to release details of her $84,000 trip to London.
The opposition party is accusing the premier of spending too much of taxpayer’s money on the trip, which includes Redford and five colleagues and has taken place during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“It’s the same old same old PCs,” said Shayne Saskiw with the Wildrose.
“They’re treating taxpayers dollars like it’s their own. We’d like to see line item by line item what expenses she is incurring.”
The trip runs from July 29 to August 4.
The province has not yet released a breakdown of the bill and that's got the Wildrose speculating.
They say in order to spend $84,000 in five nights, Redford and her team would have to fly executive class, stay in 5-star hotels, and rent three luxury cars all week.
“If there’s nothing to hide and everything is above board, why isn’t she just fully disclosing those expenses,” Saskiw said.
Speaking to CTV News over the phone from London, Redford said each and every penny spent on the trip will be accounted for.
“I think Albertans understand that there are costs associated with advancing Alberta’s agenda and I think Albertans understand that we need to think globally,” Redford said.
The Wildrose party says they would have done the trip for $31,000 by flying economy class, staying in a 4-star hotel, and taking public transit.
Redford is in the U.K. to promote Alberta’s oil, arguing it doesn’t deserve to be labeled “dirty” as some in Europe suggest.
“We’ve spent hardly any time doing anything associated with the Olympics. All of my time has been spent on energy, transportation and healthcare innovation,” Redford said.
But in a week when two Alberta Health Services officials resigned amidst an expense scandal totalling almost $350,000, many have voiced their distrust towards provincial officials and their spending.
Redford told CTV News on Friday she was outraged to hear about the expense scandal and said the Auditor General would be reviewing the case.
“I think it’s absolutely terrible and I think Albertans should be outraged and I’m outraged. I think these numbers are terribly high and if AHS had not dealt with him then the Government of Alberta would have,” Redford said.
“These were business decisions that were made in the Capital Health Region system some five years ago, well before I was even elected and I am bringing change to these organizations.”
It’s unclear when the government will make the London trip expenses public.
With files from Sean Amato
