Kenney letters target federal Tory members
Conservatives deny sharing names after Alberta woman sounds alarm
An Alberta woman isn’t happy about being contacted by Jason Kenney’s Tory leadership campaign and she’s concerned the former MP’s team may have had access to the federal Conservative party’s membership list to obtain her information.
Natasha Kornak, an Albertan who is now a student at Queen’s University in Ontario, said Thursday she was surprised when a fundraising letter from former prime minister Stephen Harper, sent by Kenney’s PC leadership campaign, arrived for her at her Springbank residence, her parents’ home.
Kornak joined the federal Conservative party this summer but isn’t a member of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives or any other provincial party.
She believes her Conservative membership is the only way Kenney’s campaign would have had knowledge of her home address.
“I know it was just one letter and one letter doesn’t really do a lot of harm, but what bothers me is that he has an advantage over the other candidates who weren’t necessarily MPs, who don’t have access to CPC data,” said Kornak.
In an email statement from Kenney spokesman Blaise Boehmer, the campaign said it won’t comment on “internal marketing strategies.”
“There are numerous commercial tools available to collect publicly available information,” said Boehmer, who noted that anyone who doesn’t want to receive further communications can simply contact the campaign.
There are no rules either provincially or federally governing the use of party membership lists.
Conservative party spokesman Cory Hann said in an email that the party has not shared its membership list with Kenney, noting “the party’s data is just that — the party’s data, and only for the party’s use.”
Kenney served as an MP for nearly 20 years before resigning his Calgary Midnapore seat in September as he pursues the PC leadership. Numerous Alberta Tory MPs, including interim leader Rona Ambrose, are backing Kenney in his leadership bid.
Hann said sitting Conservative MPs have access to the membership lists for their ridings, but that ends when they are no longer members.
Kornak contacted the Progressive Conservative party about her concerns. PC party executive director Troy Wason said her complaint would be referred to the party’s leadership election committee for review.
Wason said the four candidates in the Tory leadership race — Kenney, former St. Albert MLA Stephen Khan, Calgary lawyer Byron Nelson and Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke — all have access to the PC party’s own membership list, but not a federal list. He confirmed Kornak is not a member of the PC party and said she’s not on the province’s voters list, despite having voted in the last election.
Kornak said she also plans to complain to Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner.