Mike Allen is the second MLA to resign from the Progressive Conservative caucus since last year’s election. The Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA resigned today from the Tory caucus after he was arrested in a prostitution sting in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The first-term MLA and former Wood Buffalo municipal councillor was in St. Paul to represent the Government of Alberta at the Council of State Governments Midwestern Legislative Conference. According to a Government press release, Calgary-Fort MLA Wayne Cao was also attending the conference.
This was Mr. Allen’s fourth trip to the United States as an official representative of the Alberta Government since he was elected. In 2012, he attended conferences in Cleveland, Ohio and Madison, Wisconsin and in 2013 he attended a conference in Washington state as a representative of the Premier’s Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship.
Mr. Allen’s resignation letter was published on the Edmonton Journal website:
“Today, I informed the Chief Government Whip of a legal incident that I have been involved in. Pending resolution of this incident, I have resigned from the government caucus and all legislative committee effective immediately. I apologize to my family, my friends, my constituents, my colleagues, my staff, and to all Albertans for the embarrassment I have caused in failing to live up to the standards expected of me and the standards I expect of myself. I made this mistake as a result of a profound lapse in my personal judgment. It is a mistake for which there are no excuses and for which I accept full responsibility. This is deeply embarrassing moment and all I can say is that I am sorry and I humbly ask for forgiveness. I will work long and hard to regain the trust of the many I have let down.”
Mr. Allen was first elected in 2012, defeating former Tory cabinet minister-tuned-Wildrose MLA Guy Boutilier. In 2012, he was appointed by Premier Alison Redford as the special advisor to the Minister of Transportation for highway 63.
Mr. Allen is the second MLA to resign from the governing Tory caucus since the 2012 election. In May 2013, Edmonton-Manning MLA Peter Sandhu resigned from the PC caucus after a CBC investigation revealed that a company owned by the politician had accumulated a trail of unpaid debt and that he made a false statement in a sworn affidavit.
