Questions continue on premier's role in tobacco case
Former Wildrose campaign manager said it's unlikely Redford did anything wrong
CBC News
Posted: Nov 30, 2012 12:46 PM MT
Last Updated: Nov 30, 2012 7:20 PM MT
There are continued calls for Premier Alison Redford to clear up questions about her role in handing a lucrative government contract to her ex-husband's law firm in Calgary.
Redford maintains the final decision on the contract was made by her successor as justice minister, after she left cabinet to run for the Progressive Conservative leadership.
However, documents obtained by the CBC show Redford signed off on the selection of a legal consortium, which includes her ex-husband's law firm.
On Friday, Liberal leader Raj Sherman called for an immediate independent inquiry into the allegations.
“For years the PCs have been thumbing their noses at conflict of interest legislation, making patronage appointments and issuing crony contracts,” said Sherman. “Now, public trust is at stake.”
Yesterday, NDP Leader Brian Mason called on Redford to step aside while the matter is being investigated.
Tom Flanagan is a political science professor at the University of Calgary and managed the Wildrose Party's campaign in the last provincial election.
He says it's unlikely the premier did anything legally wrong, but he adds the way the government is handling the story is hurting her politically.
“It probably was not a breach of the code as such in a legal sense but I think it was political bad judgment but now, as I say, now that they're in more of a cover-up phase,” Flanagan said. “They're making things worse by constantly changing their story.”
On Friday, Redford was in Calgary for a Diamond Jubilee ceremony.
Redford told CBC News she has been very clear with her involvement in the tobacco contract.
"I mean this is getting silly. This isn't what Albertans elected any member of the legislature to do and there's lots of issues that we need to talk about and those are exactly what we should be doing is getting down to the business of being MLAs and ministers and governing the province," Redford said.
"I must tell you that this was a person I was married to 21 years ago. I must tell you that when I see this person I don't think to myself and associate, 'Oh, this is my ex-husband.'"
Share Tools
Latest Edmonton News Headlines
- Man accused of killing child in patio crash granted bail
- Emotions ran high in a packed Edmonton courthouse Friday as Richard Suter, accused of causing a crash into a restaurant patio that killed a young boy, was granted bail. more »
- Southside church duped by accused con man, sold in forced sale
- A bad business deal between an evangelical pastor and an accused con man has cost the church's congregation its church, school and daycare. more »
- Venus, Jupiter and Mercury to perform Dance of the Planets
- During sunset on Saturday, three planets will form a bright cluster in the western sky known as the Dance of the Planets. more »
- U of A study shows hands-free devices may not make driving safer
- Researchers at the University of Alberta have just finished a new study about the effectiveness of using hands-free technology while driving. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Will Rob Ford's supporters leave Ford Nation?
- The growing controversy over a purported video alleging to show Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine may be testing the faith of even his most die-hard supporters. But experts say Ford's policies may trump whatever personal issues he's facing, and that his supporters may rally behind him. more »
- Royal Bank pledges not to outsource jobs for cash savings
- Royal Bank has promised it will never outsource a Canadian job to a foreign worker solely to save money. more »
- Neil Macdonald: How serious is Obama about curbing the drone surge?
- In a key speech this week, the U.S. president set out a host of supposed new safeguards for America's controversial practice of remote-controlled rough justice. But as Neil Macdonald writes, the underlying rationale for drone use has not fundamentally changed. more »
- Making The Mandela Tapes
- Producer Robin Benger describes how he obtained broadcast access to interviews Nelson Mandela recorded in the 1990s. A CBC Radio Ideas program on the Mandela tapes airs May 28. more »
- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denies using crack cocaine
- The mayor of Canada's largest city told a packed news conference that he doesn't use crack cocaine and isn't a crack addict. more »
- Washington police blame bridge collapse on Alberta trucker
- Man accused of killing child in patio crash granted bail
- Alleged drunk driver goes free after cop skips court
- Southside church duped by accused con man, sold in forced sale
- Mother has message for man who almost killed her daughter
- Venus, Jupiter and Mercury to perform Dance of the Planets
- Edmontonians at a loss to explain rising gas prices
- Edmonton driver, 62, charged in boy's patio death
- Abandoned building gutted by fire in downtown Edmonton
