Alberta Liberals suggest PACs are ‘corrupting’ democratic process
Khan says third-party groups are simply a way to sidestep party financing laws
As self-styled political action committees pop up in Alberta, new Liberal Leader David Khan is calling for a crackdown on the organizations.
Khan said Thursday the provincial government should introduce strict regulations, including the banning of union and corporate donations to political action committees, setting donation limits and requiring donations above $250 to be publicly disclosed.
Khan suggested that unregulated third-party fundraising and spending in Alberta politics, are “corrupting the democratic process.”
“These PACS are simply a way to skirt or get around election financing laws and allow people, corporations and even foreign money to do what they’re not allowed to do directly through political parties. It’s very concerning,” said the Calgary lawyer, who does not hold a seat in the legislature.
There is no specific legislation in Alberta defining what political action committees are, but groups calling themselves by that term have been proliferating over the past year. Many of the groups have been connected to conservative politics, taking action around the cause of uniting Alberta’s right, the Progressive Conservative leadership race and the leadership contest to come if the new United Conservative Party goes ahead.
PACs are required to register with Elections Alberta and make disclosures as third-party advertisers if they engage in political advertising. But, otherwise, they are not subject to oversight.
Among the PACs registered with Elections Alberta are the Alberta Fund, the Alberta Advantage Fund and the Alberta Victory Fund.
Khan said he has concerns with all of the province’s PACs but took particular aim at three organizations not registered with the province. These include Unite Alberta, a group set up by PC Leader Jason Kenney that operated prior to the start of the Tory leadership race last fall, Alberta Can’t Wait, an organization dedicated to unifying the PCs and Wildrose, and the recently formed Alberta Together PAC.
Alberta Together, whose executive director is former PC party president Katherine O’Neill, is seeking to mobilize centrists in the province, potentially around the Alberta Party.
The Liberals under the recently elected Khan have rejected the idea of uniting with other centrist parties.
But Khan said he’s not raising the issue because of the potential threat to the Liberals by a strengthened Alberta Party.
“Decrying this kind of old-school kind of PC politics, corporate money in politics, in as much as that benefits me, it may do that, but it should be concerning for all Albertans and for all political parties, for that matter,” he said.
But O’Neill said Alberta Together has consulted with Elections Alberta and is fully following provincial rules forbidding partisan activity.
“We are not supporting any political party or leadership candidate, which makes us compliant with the law,” said O’Neill, noting there are people of all political stripes at a meeting hosted by the PAC in Red Deer this weekend.
“I don’t think (Khan) understands what the group is meant to be … we are doing advocacy but we are also working on research of political issues that matter to centrist Albertans, and there is also a training aspect,” she said.
The issue of unifying Alberta’s divided conservatives has been the driving force behind most of the PACs.
Khan said Albertans are still waiting for the promised disclosure of donors to Kenney’s Unite Alberta organization, which is believed to have raised more than $1 million in contributions in 2016.
Kenney has promised to voluntarily release the names of donors who gave more than $250 in conjunction with Election Alberta’s release of his leadership campaign financial documents next month. However, because PACs operate under limited Election Alberta rules, Unite Alberta can only unveil donors who have agreed to disclosure. Kenney backers have now set up the Alberta Victory Fund, made up of much of the same volunteers and staff who worked on Unite Alberta, as his new PAC.
The victory fund will first focus on campaigning for the deal bringing together the PCs and Wildrose, which will go before members of each party for approval on July 22. If it goes ahead, the fund will transition to backing Kenney for the leadership of the United Conservative Party.
John Weissenberger, Kenney’s campaign manager and the primary contact for the Alberta Victory Fund, said in a recent interview that there has been extensive consultations with Elections Alberta on “very definite guidelines of what can be done and what can’t be done.”
“I think we’re pretty clear on that,” he said.
Wildrose Leader Brian Jean is also backed by a political action committee known as the Alberta Fund. It has said it will focus first on the unity vote, then move to support Jean in the leadership race.
Jean recently told Postmedia the Alberta Fund may spend up to $1 million in the campaign to get the agreement approved by Wildrose members, which will require 75 per cent support from party members at a special meeting.
Another organization, the Alberta Advantage Fund, also recently registered with Elections Alberta. It, too, is first supporting the unity deal, then intends to back Kenney in the potential leadership contest.
Fund founder Jonathan Wescott, a former executive director of the Wildrose Party, said the new organization will take a broad approach to what it will disclose.