A day after the Wildrose Party released documents outlining a more than $7000 trip a former Capital Health executive took to a high-profile clinic in the United States in 2007, the government admitted covering the cost of the trip with taxpayer dollars was not appropriate.
On Monday, documents released by the official opposition outlined costs associated with a January, 2007 trip to Minnesota Capital Health Executive Vice President and COO Michelle Lahey took.
According to the documents, Lahey spent, and expensed more than $950 for her hotel, taxis and food, and the rest ($6,054.92) was paid to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
The same day those documents were released, the government played down the accusations, saying they were in the past.
“We’ve had the same government in power for the last forty two years, they own every single decision that has been made over those forty two years, and something that was made in 2007 is absolutely still relevant, especially if the practices are still going on today,” Wildrose and Official Opposition Leader Danielle Smith said.
However, on Tuesday during Question Period in the Legislature, officials admitted Lahey went to the clinic for a second cancer screening, after she was cleared of the disease by Alberta doctors.
“It’s wrong, very very wrong, very disappointing to hear about it,” Health Minister Fred Horne said Tuesday. “I can understand why Albertans would be offended, I’m offended.”
Horne said lawyers have told him the money paid for the trip can’t be returned to taxpayers, as the Wildrose Party had demanded on Monday.
The Health Minister also said in the years since that trip – and other expense scandals – took place, regulations had been added to prevent a similar situation from happening again.
