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More than two thirds of Albertans who responded to a national poll reported staying home over the holidays as politicians were being outed for taking tropical vacations overseas amid COVID-19.
The poll, released earlier this week by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies, says 68 per cent of Albertans reported staying home and never visiting anyone over the holidays, the highest percentage of any province in the country. But the polling company is already planning more questions to see how much growing rage at politicians who chose to travel impacts people’s willingness to follow the rules in the future.
Yet another political staffer in Alberta has been found to have travelled over the holiday period while others were in lockdown at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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More than two thirds of Albertans who responded to a national poll reported staying home over the holidays as politicians were being outed for taking tropical vacations overseas amid COVID-19.
The poll, released earlier this week by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies, says 68 per cent of Albertans reported staying home and never visiting anyone over the holidays, the highest percentage of any province in the country. But the polling company is already planning more questions to see how much growing rage at politicians who chose to travel impacts people’s willingness to follow the rules in the future.
For months, in the face of calls for his government to do more to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has preached the virtue of personal responsibility. But it doesn’t seem like his own MLAs or staffers were listening very closely.
After all, six elected representatives and a growing number of press secretaries, issues managers, and other partisan staffers gallivanted off to warmer climes over the holidays, from Mexico and Hawaii to Las Vegas and Arizona. His own chief of staff, meanwhile, decided it would be a good idea to visit the United Kingdom over the holidays and skirt a new travel ban on the way back by routing his flight through the United States. In the annals of politicians being hoisted on their own petards, this surely rates in the top 10.
Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Thursday, Jan. 7
Alberta reported 25 more deaths on Wednesday and 1,123 new cases of COVID-19 in the province, with a total of 13,450 active cases, as Premier Jason Kenney hinted that it might not be possible yet to lift restrictions next week.
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Posted: Jan 07, 2021 9:51 AM MT | Last Updated: January 7
Premier Jason Kenney says Alberta schools will resume in-person learning on Jan. 11, as the government planned before the holiday season. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)