Former premier says she was ‘never concerned’ about investigation
Posted Feb 20, 2015 4:03 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Former Alberta premier Alison Redford says she’s grateful an R-C-M-P investigation into her spending is over and has concluded she should not face criminal charges.
Redford says she was never concerned about the outcome because she knew her actions were above board.
She also thanked the R-C-M-P for their thorough work, saying it leaves no lingering questions.
The RCMP have announced there will be no charges laid following their investigation into the Alberta Government and the 2014 Auditor General’s report.
According to Merwan Saher’s findings, former Premier Alison Redford’s office had used resources inappropriately and consistently failed to demonstrate that travel expenses were a necessary and reasonable use of taxpayer funds.
Saher also found Redford had used public assets, including government aircraft, for personal and partisan purposes.
“How could this happen? The answer is the aura of power around Premier Redford and her office and the perception that the influence of the office should not be questioned,” he said in an Edmonton news conference.
Immediate public outrage had led Jim Prentice to promise to sell the fleet, in one of his first official acts as Premier of Alberta.
According to an RCMP release, police reviewed the report and conducted follow-up interviews as per standard police practice.
On August 7th, 2014, the Government had asked the RCMP to review the report and conduct any investigation police had deemed appropriate.
The Alberta Government and former Premier Alison Redford have been informed of the findings.
“In the interest of thoroughness, the RCMP interviewed a wide range of individuals who provided us with information related to the Auditor General’s Report,” said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Marlin Degrand, Criminal Operations Officer for the RCMP in Alberta. “We thank them for their cooperation and the file is now concluded.”
