Manitoba MLA vacationed in the west as his own government discouraged travel

A Progressive Conservative MLAtravelled outside the province in December while his government isurging people to stay in their homes.

Radisson MLA James Teitsma wenttoSaskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia with members of his immediate householdusing their personal vehicle from Dec. 21-30, the PC caucus confirmed Monday.

His office saidhe was on a family vacation with members of his household, and they stayed in rental accommodations anddid not gather orsocialize with anyone outside their immediate household.

Manitobans are legally allowed to travel outside the province, but the government has strongly advised against it.

The government said last week that no cabinet ministers travelled outside the province while Manitoba has been under red restrictions on the province's pandemic response system.

Some politicianshave faced consequences for deciding to travel while citizens are being encouragedto stay homeand the falloutled toresignations ofcabinet ministers in AlbertaandOntario. Manitoba MP Niki Ashton was stripped of her NDP critic role aftertravelling to Greece to see a sick relative.

The governing Progressive Conservatives sayTeitsmawas their only MLA to leave the province during the present partial lockdown.

The provincial NDP and Liberals say none of their MLAstravelled outside the province during this time.

Meanwhile, the government also confirmed that its top civil servant, David McLaughlin, travelled to Ottawa over the holidays to spend time with his family.

"The assertion that the clerk of executive council was on vacation is false and it would be grossly inaccurate for such a narrative to be propagated," said Blake Robert, director of media relations and issues managementfor the government.

"The clerk returned to his immediate family's home in Ontario and, for the last two weeks of December, was working remotelyjust as thousands of Manitobans have been for months. The work of government does not stop over the holidays."

Travel 'enforces a negative stereotype'

Paul Thomas, University of Manitoba professor emeritus of political studies, is among the many Canadians upset over politicians travelling over the holidays.

He notes there are shades ofgrey,such as Ashton visiting her sick grandmother, andonly a small number of all elected officials have been caught travelling.But rule makers flouting their own guidelines and advice does not look good, Thomas said.

"It reinforces a negative stereotype of a lot of politicians," he said.

"We used to hold politicians in fairly high-esteem...and as result of that, we're not tolerant of illegal lapses, or even unethical lapses, because our standardsand expectations have changed. We expect them to be role models, and especially role models with respect to rules that they helped to write."

While the politicians have not technically broken the law, there was a lack of social responsibility, he added.

Over the years, there has been a growing lack of trust in elected officials, Thomas said.

So politicians travellingafter telling their constituents not todoes not help that.