Alberta MLA vacationing in Mexico says he was unreachable because his phone was turned off

Tany Yao said that he decided to turn off his phone to be disconnected from the world while vacationing in Mexico, and thus was unable to respond to calls from the Alberta Premier's office, who had been trying to contact Yao since January 1.

"I recently made the poor decision to travel to Mexico on a trip," said Yao in an apology statement to CBC. "This decision did not reflect the higher standards residents expected from their elected officials."

Yao will be returning from his vacation on January 9.

Yao is one of six MLAs who has been confirmed to have travelled over the holidays. Three high-level staffers also departed over the holidays, including one who travelled to the United Kingdom.