EDMONTON — Alberta's Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, Dale Nally, is under fire Monday after the Alberta NDP revealed that Nally's chief of staff and her husband attended the minister's controversial "booze cruise" trade mission to Kentucky."What reason was the spouse of a staffer in official government photos other than this whole trip was a vacation and booze cruise?" wrote Gurinder Brar, Shadow Minister for Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, in a statement.Nally has faced criticism in recent days after the Alberta NDP resurfaced expenses claimed by the minister while in Kentucky in 2025 on a trade mission advocating for Alberta whiskey.The controversy involves four payments totalling $5,437, made to Sip Kentucky, a company that runs bourbon tours across three distilleries. The payments were charged to taxpayers and expensed as taxi services..The Alberta NDP caucus raised the issue again Monday by resurfacing photos from the mission showing Gary Davidson, the husband of Nally's chief of staff, alongside other attendees.Brar is calling on Nally to repay the $5,437.Finance Minister Jason Nixon is reviewing the claims to establish whether Nally violated government expense policies by charging taxpayers for alcohol.The Western Standard has asked Nally's office for comment.Nally has maintained that the expenses were for the trade mission, not a "booze cruise.""They have a $10 billion bourbon industry, Mr. Speaker," Nally said during Question Period on Thursday. "It's the biggest in the states. In Alberta, it's less than $750 million. We have a lot to learn. It helped inform the creation of the Alberta Whiskey Act, which they actually voted in favour of.".Premier Danielle Smith addressed the allegations on Thursday, saying Nixon is examining the expenses."I would have to say that we're going to take a look at the name of this particular taxi service," Smith said. "I know it was called a particular name."My understanding is that it was a taxi service, and these are normal expenses that you pay when you go into any kind of international trip; there's an airfare cost, there's a hotel cost, there's a transportation cost, there is a per diem rate. There is not $1 that can be spent on alcohol, and we'll be looking into it."Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi questioned the cost of the so-called "taxi" services."I have been on a lot of trade missions," Nenshi told reporters on Thursday. "I've attracted billions of dollars of investment to Calgary and Alberta, and yes, sometimes you need specialized transportation if you're in India, for example."You don't need specialized transportation if you're in New York City or in London, or presumably in Kentucky, and you certainly shouldn't be spending $3,000 a day on this transportation, which obviously included more than just transportation."
