It wasn't how Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken wanted to start the new year.
On New Year's Day, Premier Jason Kenney called a press conference to try to answer questions and quell the fire of a growing controversy when it was learned that several of van Dijken's United Conservative Party (UCP) colleagues (including recently appointed Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard) and political staffers (the most notable being Kenney's chief of staff Jamie Huckabay) travelled outside of the country over the Christmas break despite provincial and federal public health advising against it.
Since that moment, he and his constituency office have fielded several calls from upset constituents.
"I understand why people are upset and they have the right to be. We have asked a lot from Albertans, from changing their daily activities and routines to asking businesses to shut down or follow very strict protocols. Then this happens and they feel insulted and that they have been slapped in the face," he said. “It is an unfortunate incident, but it is one that the government learned a valuable lesson from.”
For the record, van Dijken has spent a quiet Christmas at home on the farm, with much of his free time, in his shop performing winter maintenance on three of his tractors.
And while he reiterated people's anger and frustration over the MLAs and staffers who decided to travel internationally are justified, van Dijken said the important thing is that they learn from the experience.
"No person is without fault at all times. Next time I could be the one who misinterprets something and goes offside. For me, it is about recognizing and understanding why it happened and then correcting it," he said.
van Dijken also noted the calls he received were not just from people who were upset that the MLAs had travelled per se, but about the latest round of restrictions, such as the ban on social gatherings and the closing down of personal care, gyms and entertainment businesses that the government put in place.
"We are living in unprecedented times and governments all around the world are struggling to find the right way forward. There will be times you find out the restrictions put in place are the right ones, then there will be times you find out they need to be adjusted ... everyone is just trying to do their best in what is a bad situation," he said.
In the end, van Dijken noted it will ultimately be up to the people of the province to decide whether or not they believe his party made enough correct decisions.
In a Facebook Live video posted on Jan. 6, the premier said the government will introduce recall legislation that will allow voters to turf their provincial elected representatives in between elections.
It is a promise the UCP included as part of their 2019 election campaign and restated in the February 2020 throne speech.
A legislative all-party committee worked on the issue of recall legislation during meetings last summer and fall.
The committee recommends an elector should have 90 days to gather petition signatures from at least 40 per cent of voters in a provincial constituency to prompt a recall vote.
If Alberta's chief electoral officer deems the petition a success, voters in that riding could then head to the polls twice — first to decide if the MLA should be unseated, and if that's successful, to elect an MLA in a byelection.
Currently, B.C. is the only province with recall legislation (Recall and Initiative Act). It has been in place since 1996. In 20 attempts, it has only been successful once, but the MLA resigned one day before he would have been ousted by the campaign. Former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm also used the legislation to force a referendum on the province's Harmonized Sales Tax.
van Dijken said he believed the Alberta version would only be for recall of provincial elected officials.
"I think a lot of Albertans believe they should have an option to say ‘something isn't working out quite right’ and recall an elected official. The key part is getting the right parameters in place," he said. "[The threshold] for recall have to be at a level that it can be effective, but not so low as for it to be abused."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
