AB Today – Election Report April 11, 2019

Quotation of the day

“Clearly, I can say 100 per cent: We did not vote.”

A CBC source says he and his family members have been questioned by the RCMP for ​ ​ voting in the UCP leadership race with suspicious email addresses, even though they did not vote at all.

Day 24: Today on the campaign trail

On the schedule Advance polls are open until Saturday; election day is next Tuesday.

In the first two days of advance polling, 276,000 people have cast their ballots, more than the total of the last election’s advance turnout which saw roughly 235,000 people vote.

Notley campaign On Wednesday morning, NDP Leader held an event at a childcare centre in ​ ​ . Like she did last week with rodeo star Denny Hay, Notley once again trotted out a ​ ​ former conservative voter who plans to cast a ballot for the NDP next week. Restaurant entrepreneur Usman Tahir Jutt said he didn’t vote for the NDP in the last election but will this ​ ​ time around, in part due to the promise of $25-a-day childcare spaces.

“If you are thinking of voting for the Party or the Liberal Party — join us,” Notley said in an appeal to voters of all stripes. “We have much in common. If we stick together, we will defeat Mr. Kenney and together we can build a strong economy that supports all Albertans.”

Notley also held a whistlestop at a home in Calgary—Klein and attended a rally at the Capitol Hill Community Association in Calgary—Mountain View.

Incumbent NDP MLA Craig Coolahan is defending his seat in Calgary—Klein; in ​ ​ Calgary—Mountain View, Justice Minister will face off against Liberal Leader ​ ​ , popular broadcaster Angela Kokott for the , and one of the UCP’s ​ ​ ​ youngest candidates, Jeremy Wong. ​ ​

On Thursday, Notley will start her day at the Coffee Cats Café in Calgary before heading south for a campaign stop in Nanton. In the evening she will hold a leader’s event at NDP MLA ’ —West campaign office. Phillips is looking to fend off the UCP’s ​ ​ ​ Karri Flatla, the Liberal’s Patricia Chizek and the Alberta Party’s Zac Rhodenizer. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Kenney campaign UCP Leader spent Wednesday in Fort McMurray. ​ ​

In the morning, he spoke at the campaign headquarters of , the UCP’s ​ ​ incumbent MLA for Fort McMurray—Lac La Biche. Goodridge won by a landslide in the 2018 ​ ​ byelection in then-riding Fort McMurray—Conklin to replace . ​ ​

Kenney was also joined by the UCP’s other local candidates, of Fort ​ ​ McMurray—Wood Buffalo and of Barrhead—Morinville—Westlock. The ​ ​ friendly crowd applauded his pro-oilsands message and lament over the province’s shrinking salaries and increasing unemployment levels for young men.

Kenney got a giggle when he singled out one of the children in the audience. “I love all the young Albertans here, that’s awesome. One of them’s even wearing a bow tie!”

On Thursday, Kenney will be in Calgary for a rally with Conservative Party of Canada Leader Andrew Scheer before taking in a Calgary Flames game. ​

Mandel campaign On Wednesday, Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel was in Grande Prairie to unveil his ​ ​ ​ crime reduction strategy, which includes reducing wait times in the justice system by hiring 25 new crown prosecutors and ending the salary cap for rural prosecutors, as well as expanding the scope of duty for sheriffs.

Mandel also toured the Wapiti Community Dorm Society, an emergency and low-income housing centre, and participated in a Q&A and meet and greet with his party’s local candidates at the Teresa Sargent Hall.

Khan campaign Leader David Khan staged a news conference in the back alley of a ​ ​ Calgary apartment complex where renters were recently kicked out with only 15 minutes notice after the building was designated as “structurally unsound.”

Khan used the set to outline his plan to increase renter protections, which includes requiring ​ landlords to pay $750 in relocation benefits to tenants displaced by a building disaster.

Today’s events

April 11 at 11:30 a.m. – Calgary ​ NDP Leader Rachel Notley will hold a leader’s event at the Coffee Cats Cafe. ​ ​

April 11 at 2 p.m. – Nanton ​ NDP Leader Rachel Notley will hold an event at a road construction company. ​ ​

April 11 at 5 p.m. – Calgary ​ Conservative Party of Canada Leader Andrew Scheer will campaign with UCP Leader Jason ​ ​ ​ Kenney at a rally at the baseball diamond of the Glenbrook School. ​

April 11 at 5 p.m. – Lethbridge ​ NDP Leader Rachel Notley will hold an event at incumbent NDP MLA Shannon Phillips’ ​ ​ ​ campaign office in Lethbridge—West.

Topics of conversation

● A new CBC investigation backs up Tuesday’s PressProgress story (and earlier ​ ​ ​ ​ allegations from ex-UCP MLA Prab Gill) alleging Jason Kenney’s campaign ran a voter ​ ​ ​ ​ fraud scheme in the 2017 leadership race. ● The CBC obtained a list of email addresses used to vote in the UCP race and cross-referenced them with a membership list from the time. This determined dozens of party members, many of them in the Punjabi community, had fraudulent email addresses assigned to their names. The email addresses came from suspicious domains and were purchased within two weeks of the leadership vote. ○ CBC spoke to individuals whose names were matched to the suspicious email addresses, who confirmed they had signed up to be party members during the leadership campaign but said they never actually cast a ballot. However, the email address assigned to them did. ○ Like individuals cited in the PressProgress story, these sources have also been ​ ​ contacted by the RCMP. ○ One of the other domain names used for the fraudulent email addresses was mail.deanfrench.ca, which was in use by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s chief of ​ ​ staff Dean French in 2014 and 2015. Ford’s office said there are “absolutely no ​ ​ ​ ​ connections” between French and the UCP race. The domain was not registered to French at the time of the leadership campaign. ○ In a statement to CBC, UCP executive director Janice Harrington denied the ​ ​ allegations of voter fraud and defended the integrity of the vote’s results.

● Separately, PressProgress obtained emails sent by Brian Jean’s former leadership ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ campaign director Hamish Marshall in August 2017 threatening to “seek a court ​ ​ intervention” against the United Conservative Party over concerns about the integrity of the leadership vote. ○ A source PressProgress describes as “high-ranking” in the UCP told the outlet ​ ​ Marshall and others were “f*cking livid” at the leadership commitee’s decision to use an electronic voting system because it opened up “mechanisms whereby Jason can cheat in the ethnic communities.”

● The CBC obtained the 44-page page questionnaire used by the UCP to vet its ​ ​ candidates, which required them to hand over social media passwords and online dating histories. It also asked candidates questions about sexting and whether they had ever been in an online conversation about a controversial topic. ○ Political scientist Lori Williams told the CBC the vetting process seemed ​ ​ thorough, but suggested something must have gone “awry” to account for the number of “bozo eruptions” during the election lead-up. ○ According to Press Progress, UCP candidates have made 30 bozo eruptions ​ ​ ​ since the party started announcing candidates.

● “Pics or it didn’t happen” doesn’t apply to secret ballots. is warning ​ people not to snap a selfie in the voting booth. Offenders could be subject to ​ prosecution.

● According to energy analysts, bringing back the bitumen boom is a pipe dream no matter ​ ​ which party wins at the ballot box next week. ○ Experts told the Canadian Press no government will be able to return Alberta to ​ ​ its oil production peak, noting the International Energy Agency only forecasts a six per cent increase in oil demand through 2040.

AB Today is written by Catherine Griwkowsky, reporting from Alberta's legislative press gallery.

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