The Liberal Party of Alberta has produced evidence that in 2005, Athabasca County councillors attended a Progressive Conservative fundraising function and provided an item for a silent auction, which the Liberals say is a violation of the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act.
The first of a number of releases to be made in the coming weeks, the Liberals charge that the PCs’ garnering of donations from unauthorized sources is evidence of a “widespread and systemic problem” within the governing party.
Under the title “The Warlords of Alberta, Part One,” the release points to Athabasca County council minutes from November of 2005, where councillors unanimously agreed to send five councillors to a PC Association Dinner in Thorhild, as well as arrange for administration to provide an item for a silent auction.
The Election Finances Act prohibits municipalities, schools and government bodies from making contributions to political parties.
Liberal Party and Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman, also an ex-PC member, said soliciting or accepting donations from municipalities shows that the ruling party has lost the moral authority to govern.
“If they don’t know they’re breaking their own law, then maybe they shouldn’t be in government,” Sherman said, adding that they should have known that these invitations would pressure municipal officials into breaking the law.
He pointed out that those municipal officials should not be blamed for such infractions.
“In fact, I can empathize with all those entities because they need stable funding, and they feel they must donate to the PCs to get a handout from them,” Sherman said.
Current Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson said he could not comment on what happened with the previous Athabasca-Wabasca constituency association, but asserted that in his first two terms as MLA, he and his constituency association have watched for the issue.
“We recognized that there might have been some things that happened earlier on, but the last three years we’ve kept an eye on that, and so has the party,” he said.
He said that in many cases, municipal councillors will come to a PC event as individuals, then claim that as an expense to their organization, and there is no way for the party to know that has occurred.
In cases where cheques from unauthorized organizations were discovered, the money has been returned, Johnson said, adding that most incidents are the result of volunteers just trying to do their job, and there are no malicious intentions.
Sherman did not buy the PCs pleading ignorance or passing the buck to volunteers or municipal officials.
“They insult the intelligence of Albertans,” he said. “The donations go to the party office. Volunteers may not know, but the party office should know.”
The Liberals also announced that they would be releasing more evidence over the next several weeks suggesting which organizations were plied to attend partisan events, an effort that Sherman said he hopes will show Albertans “the truth” about the PCs.
In early January, the Edmonton Journal reported that Athabasca County might be one of a number of municipalities under investigation by Elections Alberta, following up on questions of unlawful donations raised in the fall of 2011 by the Wildrose Party and media reports.
Drew Westwater, director of election operations and communications for Elections Alberta, said they cannot reveal which organizations are being investigated, but if the law has been broken the monies involved will be returned.
He added that there is a limit of three years to prosecute organizations that have contravened the act.
Athabasca County manager Gary Buchanan said that in his time with the municipality, since 2009, both council and administration have been fully aware of and compliant with the provisions in the Elections Financing Act.
