Some members of Kenney’s cabinet frustrated by the premier's recent actions
Two notable members of Premier Jason Kenney’s cabinet are asking he apologize to Albertans for what appears to be the breaking of COVID-19 health guidelines on the first day Stage 1 was introduced.
Rajan Sawhney and Leela Aheer, who are both Calgary-area MLAs, are taking Kenney to task for refusing to take responsibility for photos that appear to show him and other high-ranking UCP members and staff ignoring health rules while enjoying drinks and dinner on the penthouse patio of a building near the legislature grounds.
“All of us make mistakes, but this one is a big one, and I am truly sorry,” said Aheer in a Facebook post. “Our leadership should sincerely apologize.”
Aheer is Alberta’s minister for culture and multiculturalism while Sawhney is the minister responsible for social services.
“We don’t see cabinet ministers criticizing premiers anywhere,” said Duane Bratt, a political scientist with Mount Royal University.
Bratt says the longer this controversy lingers, the deeper Kenney is digging himself into a hole.
“Let’s say you’re Leela Aheer, and Kenney kicks you out. What is he kicking you out for?” he said.
“For saying that it was bad optics for you to have a party on the Sky Palace patio?”
Aheer was also very critical of Kenney on his recent comments around ‘cancel culture’ on renaming of some Calgary schools including Langevin school.
"If we want to get into cancelling every figure in our history who took positions on issues at the time that we now judge harshly, and rightly in historical retrospective, but if that's the new standard, then I think almost the entire founding leadership of our country gets cancelled,” said Kenney last week.
Aheer says Hector Louis Langevin was an architect of the residential schools.
“Changing the names of schools and educating people about these atrocities is not ‘cancel culture,’” read Aheer’s statement.
“Cancel culture is what happened to our First Nations by not acknowledging these atrocities and those responsible.”
Meanwhile, Sawhney spoke to Punjabi radio station RED FM on Friday.
She says she has been following the rules very seriously.
“We have to take them very seriously,” she said. “I would say if they committed a mistake they must accept it openly.”
Sawhney was interviewed in Punjabi, and her responses were translated by CTV News to English.
Bratt believes if Kenney was to kick either women out of caucus or from their cabinet positions, it would be detrimental.
“I’m not sure how he gets out of this but I think, kicking them out of cabinet could make things worse for him,” said Bratt.
CTV News has reached out to Aheer, Sawhney and Kenney’s offices for further comment, but have not received any responses.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.