NDP admits ‘serious mistake’, tying fundraising appeal to public event
The NDP apologized Friday after politicizing the upcoming swearing-in ceremony of cabinet ministers at the provincial legislature by first requesting Albertans RSVP to the event online and then asking people to donate to the party.
In a statement, Mary McLean, acting provincial secretary for the New Democrats, called the fundraising appeal a “serious mistake, conduct we committed to end during the campaign.
“In this, unfortunately, we were mixing a party fundraising appeal with a publicly-funded event.”
Earlier this week, the NDP emailed invitations to Sunday’s swearing-in at the legislature to its list of supporters and donors. NDP MLAs, including premier-designate Rachel Notley, extended the invitations to the public through social media.
The online invitation included an RSVP button that sent people to another invitation page asking them to donate $5 to $2,500 to the Alberta New Democrats by credit card. The party shut down the site Thursday afternoon following questioning by the Herald.
“I have directed an immediate end to this fundraising appeal and the removal of information on the Internet supporting it,” McLean said.
“And I have directed that there be no repetition of fundraising appeals that refer to publicly-funded events in this way.
“We sincerely apologize to Albertans for this mistake.”
Liberal Leader David Swann said he wanted more information from the NDP about how the donation idea came about initially. He said opposition parties will “be watching very closely” to hold the new government accountable for any further ethical lapses.
“We elected these folks to clean up this kind of stuff,” Swann said. “They have failed Albertans in the first week.”
Cheryl Oates, spokeswoman for Notley, said the donation idea came solely from the party.
“It wasn’t the premier’s office that gave this direction,” she said.
Oates said Notley was not aware when she tweeted the link that the process would take the public to the NDP’s fundraising page.
“It was never supposed to end up on a fundraising page. The fundraising page was a mistake and has been corrected,” she added.
Lori Williams, associate professor of policy studies for Mount Royal University, said the gaffe was uncharacteristic for Notley’s NDP, which was roundly praised for running a near-flawless campaign during the election.
“I can’t believe how foolish that was,” Williams said.
“To combine a political event with a party event, you would think the NDP would know — after everything that has happened with the Conservatives — that it was crossing the line.”
Interim PC leader Ric McIver was reluctant to criticize the NDP too harshly, noting the incoming government was still learning the ropes after its stunning election upset less than three weeks ago, ending the 44-year-old dynasty of the Tories.
“It’s early days, I hope they learn … what’s appropriate and what’s not,” McIver said.
“Albertans chose a new government and the new government is going to suddenly have to become more accountable for their actions,” he said. “We’ll see what happens as time goes on.”