Manitoba's Opposition NDP says Premier Brian Pallister needs to clear up some details about the recent vacation where he broke his arm.

Pallister was injured last Monday when he fell during a hike, alone, in New Mexico. When he didn't turn up as scheduled, he was reported missing by his wife Esther for a short time.

Members of the media were informed about the incident on Friday.

READ MORE:

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister hurt while hiking on vacation in New Mexico

Pallister explains how he got injured in New Mexico

NDP critic Andrew Swan says this raises several questions, about who was in charge while the premier was incapacitated, why he went away a week before the Speech from the Throne, and whether or not the premier is now using a government cell phone following controversy over his communication while in Costa Rica. 

Other questions Swan highlighted include how much vacation the premier is currently taking and why it took four days to alert the media about the premier's accident.

"When something like this happens you would expect that there would be more effective communication with Manitobans so they could know how the premier is doing," said Swan.

In response, a government spokesperson says the premier elected to take a few days away with his wife as the tone and substance of the throne speech was already completed. Cell phone reception in the area was spotty so the premier did not have his phone with him at the time, but hedid have it for the rest of the trip, said the spokesperson.

"He had his government cell phone with him and was receiving routine updates via e-mail. He was able to be in contact with staff if need be. Obviously, the need arose after his accident."

The premier has not been available to the media since the accident but did put out a Facebook video update over the weekend with questions posed from a government staff member.

Swan calls the video a strange way of communicating.

"Expecting that you can keep the media out and manage things with a four minute interview with questions that you've written for your own staff would be a departure from the way we do things in Manitoba," said Swan.

The government spokesperson says with orders to rest at home by his doctor, a quick video update posted to social media was the most effective way to provide accurate and timely information to Manitobans.

The throne speech is set to be tabled Tuesday.