Political group refusing to release donor list
Take Back Alberta head lashes out at Elections Alberta for investigation
The leader of a political action group with close ties to the UCP is lashing out at Elections Alberta for investigating its political donation practises.
David Parker, who heads Take Back Alberta (TBA), said he's refusing to surrender a donor list to the elections watchdog that he accuses of corruption.
“They are demanding that I release the entire list of donors to Take Back Alberta. This is a violation of the Elections Act, since the donors to Take Back Alberta were not donating for political advertising,” he said in a March 15 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I will not be releasing the names of our donors so that they can be harassed by left-wing activists.”
He said he's been subpoenaed to appear before Elections Alberta officials on Friday and said his group is organizing a protest outside its Edmonton office that day.
TBA is widely thought to wield considerable influence on the UCP government, on issues such as recently announced limitations on medical treatment for trans youth and vaccine policy.
Those with close links to TBA take up much of the UCP board of directors, and the group takes credit for ousting former premier Jason Kenney and ensuring the leadership of Premier Danielle Smith, who is a friend of Parker's.
The party has vehemently denied it takes direction from TBA.
Parker said the group is being unfairly targeted “for simply teaching people how their democracy works and encouraging people to get involved in their democracy.”
Elections Alberta doesn't comment on ongoing investigations but does make public the results of them, said agency spokeswoman Robyn Bell.
But she said “investigating any potential breach of the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act is within the authority of the election commissioner.”
Many, including Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt, say it can be argued the group is orchestrating UCP policy, such as allowing political parties to compete in municipal elections.
And he noted other third-party advertisers publicly list their donors.
“Everyone else does, at least those not sanctioned by Elections Alberta,” said Bratt.
On its website, TBA promotes a petition to stop NDP Leader Rachel Notley, with the message “we are aware that Alberta has a long history of conservative leadership and that the NDP doesn't represent the values of most Albertans.”
TBA also takes policy positions consistent with those of the UCP government, though Bratt said that's not at issue with Elections Alberta, although how the two co-ordinate on those might be.
On X, Parker insisted Elections Alberta operates on a double standard by not investigating concerns over “collusion between the Alberta NDP and unions.”
Elections Alberta had no comment on that accusation, nor did the Alberta NDP.
Nobody from TBA responded to requests for comment.