Letter: UCP’s sense of entitlement based on belief that voters will let them get away with it

By Letter to the Editor on June 26, 2021.

Dear editor,

In response to Mr. Peter Mueller’s June 17 letter.

Mr. Mueller mentioned the dinner and drinks session held by Premier Jason Kenney and five senior cabinet ministers.

I take no issue with them using the “sky palace.” Alberta owns it. It should be used.

It does not concern me that the attendees were drinking “budget liquor,” in the words of Mr. Kenney, so long as the attendees bought the bottle themselves and it was not paid for by taxpayers. The fact Mr. Kenney felt a need to defensively describe it as “budget liquor” suggests taxpayers paid for it. Did we? Each of the six cabinet ministers at the dinner is paid $181,399 annually. Among the six, surely, they could afford a bottle of “budget liquor.” I can understand a guy and his associates unwinding with a drink or two at the end of the day, if they buy their own.

What concerns me is that public health rules required these cabinet members to not dine together, to maintain physical distance, and to wear masks. The video of the dinner proves they broke the rules. Mr. Kenney has, properly, reminded us of these rules many, many times over the last 14 months. He knows the rules. He can surely remember them, however, they believed no one was watching. The character of a person can best be measured by how they behave when no one is watching. We saw rule breaking by rule makers. That showed their sense of entitlement, which is part of their character, and which they think gives them a pass on following rules.

We saw the sense of entitlement last Christmas, when six UCP MLAs and one of Mr. Kenney’s senior staffers travelled internationally for vacations, even though, according to local MLA Micheala Glasgo, their instructions not to travel were “pretty clear.” When first asked about the aberrant travelers, Mr. Kenney said “technically they did not do anything illegal. I’ll take no action.” More entitlement.

We saw the sense of entitlement in 2019, early in the UCP mandate, when, after promising greater decorum in the legislature, Mr. Kenney gave earplugs to his members sitting, in session, so they could wear them while opposition members spoke. The earplugs stunt was a crudity, based on a sense of entitlement, and was an insult to the legislative process.

The UCP’s sense of entitlement is based on their belief that voters will let them get away with acts like these. Are you a voter? Will you let them get away with this?

Gregory R. Côté

Irvine

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