More UCP MLAS questioned in leadership-race probe
The RCMP has interviewed two more UCP MLAS — Joseph Schow and Jordan Walker — as part of its investigation into the party’s 2017 leadership campaign.
Schow is the deputy government whip and member for Cardston-siksika, and Walker is the Sherwood Park MLA.
Neither of them returned Postmedia’s requests for comment, but UCP caucus executive director Robyn Henwood said they are not under investigation.
It’s the latest in a string of police interviews over alleged vote irregularities in the race won by now-premier Jason Kenney.
Police have also questioned five cabinet ministers: Josephine Pon (seniors and housing), Prasad Panda (infrastructure), Doug Schweitzer ( justice), Jason Luan (mental health and addictions) and Leela Aheer (culture, multiculturalism and status of women). All say they’re not under investigation.
Walker and Schow aren’t the first UCP backbenchers caught up in the inquiry. A business owned by Calgary-east MLA Peter Singh was raided by the RCMP days before
the election as part of the investigation. Mounties seized a computer hard drive, other electronic devices and a suitcase.
Singh was also the subject of an unrelated internal UCP investigation late last year over fraud allegations stemming from his nomination campaign. That same race led to an investigation by the election commissioner over allegations Singh distributed gifts and inducements to voters during his nomination. Singh has maintained his innocence.
AUDIT CAME BACK CLEAR
The UCP hired Calgary accounting firm Dorward & Company in 2017 to audit the party’s leadership race and examine eligibility and tabulation. The firm was founded by former Progressive Conservative
cabinet minister David Dorward, who ran for the UCP in Edmonton-gold Bar in 2019.
In an October 28, 2017, letter sent to the party, obtained by Postmedia, company partner Stephen Johnson said auditors “did not identify any exceptions to the applications of the rules or procedures in the determination of the election results.”
That letter came two days after concerns were raised by the campaigns of Doug Schweitzer and Brian Jean, who were vying against Kenney for the UCP crown.
The two men asked the party to temporarily suspend voting, citing worries about the telephone voting system and distribution of the personal identification numbers needed to cast a ballot online.
Kenney won the race with just over 60 per cent of the vote.
The police investigation dogged Kenney and his party throughout the election campaign, and didn’t stop once the party won power on April 16.
During the spring session, the NDP repeatedly lobbed questions about the investigation across the aisle.
Opposition Leader Rachel Notley then demanded a special prosecutor be appointed to the investigation after Schweitzer confirmed RCMP had interviewed him.
Eventually the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service appointed a special prosecutor from Ontario to assist the police investigation, but authorities in both provinces have refused to name that person.