Alberta politician caught in prostitution sting welcomed back to Tory caucus

Alberta MLA Mike Allen (Screenshot of footage from MikeAllenMLA YouTube channel)

EDMONTON — An Alberta politician caught trying to buy sex from undercover officers in Minnesota while on a government trip has been allowed back into the Progressive Conservative caucus.

Government whip George VanderBurg said Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo member of the legislature Mike Allen has been accepted back after a secret-ballot vote by caucus members.

VanderBurg said Allen approached him a couple of weeks to discuss re-entering caucus.

He would not discuss the results of the vote, only that it was “yes.”

“Mike joined us after the caucus meeting for lunch and he got a very, very warm welcome… He got a warm applause and lots of pats on the back,” VanderBurg said.

“Mike had made a mistake. He admitted that. He paid his price both personally and publicly. He made his apology. He had his time in the corner and now it is time for Mike to get back to work. In all of us, we forgive people for their sins.”

Allen did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

He was arrested in 2013 while in Minnesota representing the province at a conference on cross-border issues.

He pleaded guilty in St. Paul, Minnesota, to a misdemeanour after he contacted officers who had posted a fake online ad for escorts.

Police reported Allen, who was single at the time, arranged to meet pair of prostitutes who were actually female undercover officers and he agreed to pay about $200 for sex.

He had just put some cash on a counter in his hotel room and was starting to undress when other police officers came in and arrested him.

He apologized and told his hometown paper, Fort McMurray Today, that he ended a serious relationship prior to the St. Paul trip and he was lonely.

However, then premier Alison Redford said she was “disgusted” by his actions and called them “more than inappropriate.”

Allen was removed from caucus and a U.S. judge ordered him to pay $1,000 in fines and penalties.

VanderBurg said he doesn’t think there will be a political price to letting Allen back in.

“The message I’ve heard very clearly is that Mike works hard in his constituency, he worked hard to get elected and he has worked hard both as a PC member and as an Independent member.”