Alta. ag minister resigns amid personal conduct allegations

Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen has resigned from his position in the provincial cabinet, citing his personal conduct involving alcohol.

“I accept that my personal conduct with regards to alcohol has become an issue for the government as a whole,” Dreeshen said in a Facebook post Nov. 5. “I deeply regret that this is the case, but have decided that it is best for both myself and the province to resign my position and focus on my personal health and wellness.”

Nate Horner, associate minister of rural economic development, was sworn in as minister of agriculture, forestry, and rural economic development. Premier Jason Kenney said Dreeshen will continue to be the MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.

Dreeshen’s resignation followed a lawsuit by former senior legislative staff member Ariella Kimmel, who alleged she was fired for speaking out about a poisoned work environment. A statement of claim said it included alleged excessive drinking by Dreeshen “and the issues it was causing her personally as well as others.”

She also reported a separate incident of alleged sexual harassment that occurred during a gathering for drinks Oct. 21, 2020, in then-Health Minister Tyler Shandro’s office. It involved a female who worked under Kimmel, who was allegedly targeted by a then-principal adviser to Shandro.

Kimmel had been in an on-and-off romantic relationship with Dreeshen before accepting a job Aug. 31, 2020, as chief of staff for Doug Schweitzer, minister of jobs, economy and innovation.

She is seeking nearly $400,000 in damages after being terminated from the position on Feb. 5, 2021. None of the details in the statement of claim have been tested in court.

The decision to end Kimmel’s employment “was unrelated to the matters contained in her statement of claim,” Pam Livingston, chief of staff to Kenney, said in an email Oct. 29. She added “this government has zero tolerance for harassment and takes all allegations of this nature very seriously.”

During a news conference Nov. 5, Kenney said he didn’t object to members of the legislature “having a social drink every now and then. Political life is a very, very social activity…”

However, he added “people should be mature and responsible in terms of consuming alcohol, especially in any kind of a workplace environment,” and should show respect for other people. It is “just basic common sense and fairly obvious standards of conduct for anybody in a workplace.”

Lars Hallstrom, director of the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy at the University of Lethbridge, said Kenney also relied on his subordinates to use their common sense when deciding whether to travel internationally during the Christmas holidays in 2020 despite COVID-19 restrictions.

The resulting public outcry forced the resignations of Kenney’s then-chief of staff Jamie Huckabay and Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard, along with the demotions of five other MLAs.

Kenney also apologized on June 7 for a dinner involving several cabinet ministers and senior legislative staff members that appeared to violate COVID-19 rules. They were photographed dining outdoors on the deck of a government building containing Kenney’s temporary office as part of a meal that included whiskey.

Most employers in Alberta prohibit their employees from consuming alcohol in the workplace, said Hallstrom. He called the alleged behavior of some people in Kenney’s government an apparent throwback to that of past generations of politicians.

It appears to reflect a troubling double standard given the fact such officials are also government employees, he said. “So is alcohol equally a part of agriculture or the energy sector, or high school teachers?”

An alleged “disturbing incident involving Mr. Dreeshen” occurred on Oct. 19, 2020, according to the claim. He hadhad allegedly been drinking alcohol in his office that afternoon with another senior legislative staff member.

“Later that evening, the plaintiff met Mr. Dreeshen and (the staff member) at another minister’s office. They had been joined by another minister, a staffer and a former MLA. The plaintiff immediately observed that all the individuals were (allegedly) heavily intoxicated.”

Kimmel became concerned about “how intoxicated Mr. Dreeshen was and encouraged him to cease drinking.”

After Dreeshen and Kimmel together left the gathering, he “angrily confronted the plaintiff about ‘trying to stop him from drinking,’ and aggressively yelled at her to the point where she was in tears and a concerned bystander intervened. The plaintiff felt shaken and scared during this encounter.”

The statement of claim alleged Kimmel had also been the target of false and malicious rumours being circulated by senior members of Kenney’s government, including blaming her for leaking Huckabay’s Christmas trip to the United Kingdom to the media.

An anonymous Twitter account subsequently began releasing details Jan. 6, 2021, about Kimmel’s past romantic relationship with Dreeshen, said the statement of claim.

Kenney said Oct. 27 an independent review is being appointed to “advise the government on how to improve human resources practices for political staff so that they know that they are safe to come forward to report their experiences to ensure that action is taken.”