After the fallout of a former Alberta legislature employee led to a lawsuit against the Premier’s office, Chestermere-Strathmore MLA Leela Aheer is calling on Jason Kenney to resign.
In a video posted to Twitter by a CBC reporter during a media scrum on Oct. 27, Aheer called for Kenney’s resignation due to how the matter was handled.
“Why is it the woman always has to leave? Why do I have to step down? That is the question I have for you,” Aheer said in the video. “Why am I the one who’s responsible to step down from the party, a group of Albertans who stood up with me to get to this place? I earned my spot here. Premier Kenney should step down.”
Speaking to the group of reporters, Aheer added if there comes a time she needs to leave the UCP caucus, she will do that, but at this time, she will remain in her position.
“I will build from within something that is worthy of the people of Alberta,” she said. “This isn’t a UCP issue, this is a failure of leadership.”
According to a CBC report, the former chief of staff for a provincial cabinet minister is suing the premier's office. The plaintiff, Ariella Kimmel, claims she suffered from a toxic workplace culture and was fired as retribution for speaking out about the problems she saw.
The CBC story went on to report the allegations in Ariella Kimmel's lawsuit include sexual harassment and heavy drinking by ministers and staff in legislature offices, as well as claims that senior staff in the premier's office fabricated rumours about her, which contributed to her termination.
Aheer took to Facebook on Oct. 27, where she posted the mentioned CBC story, and claimed Kenney knew about what was going on.
“Premier Kenney you knew! Step down!” she wrote in the post. “Enough is enough. To say I have lost confidence is an understatement.”
This is not the first time Aheer has spoken out about the premier. In June, she criticized Kenney after photos emerged of him and several government colleagues flouting COVID-19 public health measures by dining on the rooftop patio of a government-owned office, commonly referred to as the Sky Palace. In the photo, Kenney and his colleagues were not abiding by government-implemented rules surrounding the number of people who could dine together.
Shortly afterward, Aheer was removed from Kenney’s cabinet in a July cabinet shuffle. Before that, she served as Alberta’s minister of culture, multiculturalism and status of women.
Aheer is the second Rocky View County-area MLA to call on Kenney to step down, after Airdrie-East MLA Angela Pitt did so earlier this fall.
Jordan Stricker, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @jaystrickz
