It’s certainly not an unfamiliar theme, but why is it that some politicians feel they have such liberties when it comes to spending?

Everyone knows by now that Premier Alison Redford has finally agreed to pay back the $45,000 she spent to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral late last year.

Well this is good news for taxpayers, it points to this troubling tendency of, again just some politicians, who feel that it’s somehow appropriate to lavishly overspend at their own discretion.

It should never, ever have even reached this level – Redford didn’t want to pay back the money initially, something she made quite clear early on. But the public was relentless – perhaps something she didn’t bargain on – and she was pretty much forced to pay back the funds.

We elect these people to work for us, to represent us and there has to be some level of trust in this ‘relationship’. It’s frustrating to say the least, to see such a blatant sense of entitlement. Others attended the memorial service and paid significantly less – Redford is a premier not a member of the Royal family or president of the United States. She didn’t need a first-class trip with all the trimmings to attend a service. Also, was it even really necessary for her to attend at all?

We could understand the prime minister attending – but Redford seems to have this idea that she’s is particularly important and well-known which just isn’t the case.

Maybe part of the problem is that the Tories have simply been in power for way too long – a point that many have brought up over the past few years. But it seems that as of late, we are especially seeing this behaviour and sense of entitlement rise to the surface. It only seems to be getting worse with Redford, who has even lost a couple of members of her own party over the past while due to her leadership.

Another disheartening point is that she, and the party as a whole, just seem to desperately out of touch with ordinary Albertans. Who in their right mind could justify that kind of expense and think that no one would utter a word of complaint? Who would think that it would just all blow over? This points directly to Redford’s boldness – in spite of the fact she may try to blame others for the overspending.

At this point, we think it’s in Alberta’s best interest that she not be re-elected – maybe it’s high time that citizens take another approach to who leads this province.

The way things are now is showing that the status quo is broken.