I think there are three main reasons the UCP travel is hitting me so hard (and a lot of other people, too). Compared to mismanagement that has cost lives and livelihoods, it's a pretty minor thing. But that's exactly why it feels so galling:

First, it shows an unwillingness to make even a tiny sacrifice. It reminds me of them staying at expensive London hotels on business trips because "that's where the meetings are"—the thought of commuting to save money didn't occur to them. Inconvenience is for others, not them.

Second, it reflects a belief that rules are meant to be bent, if not outright broken. Millions of Albertans understood the intent of "no non-essential travel," but since no one told me personally not to go to Vegas/Hawaii/UK, how could I have known it applied to me?

Third, it underlines how haphazard the UCP's approach to COVID has felt. No plans or consultations for schools, delayed/last-minute restrictions, highest per-capita infections, nowhere near vaccine targets. That doesn't buy you a holiday indulgence.

Imagine the colossal lack of empathy that you'd need to let all these trips happen without anyone flagging what a PR disaster it would be. In a job where your public image is essentially all you have. That's not just some momentary lapse in judgement, it's who you are as a party.

A government that respected the gravity of COVID, that understood the importance of holding yourself to your own rules, and that had any capacity for self-sacrifice wouldn't be in this position.
The UCP has long made it clear that they're none of those things.