A politician is once again under fire for her rather expensive taste in morning beverages.
A politician is once again under fire for her rather expensive taste in morning beverages.
Documents released Tuesday show expenses for Alberta Premier Alison Redford over the past five years, which included her tenure as justice minister. Among the expenses claimed are a host of food and beverages, including one $24.61 charge for coffee while she was staying at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.
A spokesperson for the premier told the Calgary Herald that the $24 coffee in question was a large pot shared by four people at a meeting.
While the $6 per person coffee likely won’t signify the end of the premier’s career in the same way that a certain $16 glass of orange juice spelled disaster for former international co-operation minister Bev Oda, the pages and pages of documents will give both opposition members and media plenty of fodder for the days to come.
The documents were released by the premier as a gesture of goodwill ahead of a new expense policy that the Alberta government is billing as “the toughest and most transparent expense disclosure policy in Canada.”
The new policy will require all ministers, associate ministers, political staff, and top public service members to post their expenses online bi-monthy, with the first post going up on Dec. 1.
Notably, the new policy will not allow officials to expense any liquor as part of a meal or travel expense, a stipulation that could prove particularly difficult come Stampede time.