Editors Note: This story was originally published at 11:30 am MST on December 31, 2020 and was updated at 2:40 pm MST.Alberta UCP Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen appears to have used his Instagram account to poke fun at Ontario MPP Rod Phillips, who was forced to resign as Finance Minister after he posted misleading accounts of his being at home, while he was vacationing in St. Bart’s during a lockdown..Dreeshen uploaded a social media post showing him enjoying the Alberta cold, but with the geo-tag showing him as being on the Caribbean island nation of St. Bart’s..A bundled-up Dreeshen is seen standing over a snow shovel on a frozen lake in the Instagram post saying: “Just finished up shovelling snow and looking for tips on how to make perfect ice for skating. Tried a couple techniques but haven’t perfected it yet. Post your best tips here.”. Screenshot-2020-12-31-at-10.29.58-AM .Alberta Premier Jason Kenney responded: “Amazing!”.The down-home post of Dreeshen caught the attention of his followers, however when the geo-tagging feature indicated that the tweet did not, in fact, come from frozen, locked-down Alberta, but from sunny St. Bart’s.. Screen-Shot-2020-12-31-at-10.58.12-AM-1 .Repeated requests for comment and clarification from the Western Standard to Dreeshen’s office were not returned. The phone at Dreeshen’s constituency office appeared to be disconnected as of 10:40 a.m. MST..Similar calls into the Premier Jason Kenney’s office by the Western Standard were not returned..Four hours after first requesting comment from Dreeshen’s office, his press secretary responded, “the Minister has been in his constituency hauling grain over the holidays.”.At approximately 2:10 pm MST on December 31st, Dreeshen posted a video of himself thanking people for their ice-making tips; seemingly to make clear that he was not in fact, in St. Bart’s..The follow-up Instagram post came soon after CTV broke that Pat Rehn, UCP MLA for Lesser Slave Lake posted a photo of himself in a Mexican cave. Rehn had earlier posted a message that read, “stay home, save lives.”.The Alberta UCP government has had the province under a hard lockdown over Christmas and provincial health guidelines ask Albertans not to travel for vacation..Story will be updated as more information becomes available..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,.dnaylor @westernstandardonline.com
