Opposition members, smelling blood in the scandal-ridden PC party, recently dragged Finance Minister and Spruce Grove-St.
Opposition members, smelling blood in the scandal-ridden PC party, recently dragged Finance Minister and Spruce Grove-St. Albert MLA Doug Horner's wife into the government planes issue apparently in an attempt to illustrate an ongoing and wasteful attitude of entitlement in the governing party. They were wrong to do so.
Horner, in a front page Gazette story last weekend, defended himself from accusations he was taking his spouse with him on some government flights that involved his work as a cabinet member or MLA, a practice that is not only common in governments but acceptable. In fact, spousal travel is also a normal practice in the corporate world. Given the enormous amount of travel Horner is required to do as a cabinet minister, it would be cruel and unusual punishment to expect him to leave his wife at home.
There is a line past which government officials shouldn't go. Former Premier Alison Redford's $45,000 flight to South Africa is a perfect example, as there was an affordable alternative.
If the opposition parties hope to gain ground on the governing PC party in the next election, they're going to have to do a lot better than the petty and amateurish attacks such as the one they launched against Horner and his family.
Bad driving
St. Albert motorists are once again rightfully getting a condemning finger wagged at them from the local RCMP.
Last week, St. Albert RCMP issued a press release listing a number of serious violations motorists were observed doing in school zones. This time, it wasn't teenagers or any of the other usual suspects to blame, but parents. Those dropping their children off at school were breaking laws while they were doing it, not to mention putting other children and parents in harm's way.
The quality of driving must improve in the city, as impaired driving, cellphone use, speeding, running traffic lights, ignoring stop signs, changing lanes or turning without signaling and treating parking lots as a three ring circus are common sights every day in the city.
St. Albert had a shockingly high number of pedestrians killed by motorists last year – four, including one child – and carelessness played a factor in many of those deaths. That's completely unacceptable. Driving a motor vehicle is a serious responsibility and a privilege. Let's start treating it that way.
