Pallister irked by questions on vacation, Costa Rica plans

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This article was published 03/03/2017 (3171 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Brian Pallister chided reporters Thursday that it’s not journalism to keep asking him about spending time at his vacation home in Costa Rica.

A testy Pallister accused media of misrepresenting his time in Costa Rica and of being unfair.

“It’s not journalism,” he said, urging reporters to spend their time on the financial and health-care issues facing Manitoba.

Pallister was reacting in a scrum to a question from a reporter asking about his plans for July, which she linked to the possibility of flooding this spring.

The premier responded that July flooding is rare, and he has no plans to be in Costa Rica in July.

Pallister said he was aware of what the reporter was referencing: in 2014, he was in Costa Rica during a flood in Manitoba, but initially said he was at a wedding in Alberta.

That was a flash flood, said Pallister Thursday, and has nothing to do with his plans not to be in Costa Rica this July.

“I don’t intend on it. I don’t have a plan to go to Costa Rica in July,” said Pallister, becoming increasingly impatient as he repeated that statement three times.

“I’ve been away on vacation less time than most members of the NDP,” he insisted.

Pallister, who has said he’ll be in Costa Rica as much as eight weeks a year when the legislature is not sitting, said Thursday he’ll be there five weeks this year.

He was in Costa Rica in January, and will likely be there in August and September.

His staff said that since the election, Pallister was in Costa Rica July 8 to 17, Aug. 25 to 31, and Dec. 16 to 31.

The NDP has called Pallister a part-time premier. In question period Thursday, four MLAs made reference to Costa Rica seven times.

— Nick Martin