Wildrose asks if donors met residency rule

Smith seeks wider probe of Katz gifts to PC party

Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith is asking the head of Elections Alberta to expand his investigation into the Progressive Conservatives’ campaign donations and look into whether the donors are eligible to give under the province’s election laws.

Specifically, in a Thursday letter, Smith asked chief electoral officer Brian Fjeldheim to look into whether Oilers owner Daryl Katz, and others connected to Katz who made hefty donations to the Tory party during the spring election, are really Alberta residents.

Under Alberta’s election finance laws, no person “ordinarily resident outside Alberta” can donate to a party, Smith noted. Likewise, parties also cannot “knowingly solicit or accept contributions” from someone who does not normally call Alberta home.

Fjeldheim is already investigating whether hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to the PCs by Katz, his family, his company and associates were donated appropriately. According to the Globe & Mail, the party received a single $430,000 cheque from Katz, a pharmacy mogul.

Premier Alison Redford promised Wednesday to make the results of Fjeldheim’s investigation public.

“We think it’s important if we’re going through the process to clear the air, we might as well clear the air of all the issues,” Smith said Thursday, explaining why the Wildrose is now asking for a deeper look at the PC donations.

“Again, it’s just an allegation, but since he’s doing the investigation, we want to make sure it’s thorough,” she said.

A Katz spokesman declined to comment Thursday.

Elections Alberta spokesman Drew Westwater said the office’s investigation will include a thorough look at all aspects of the donation.

NDP Leader Brian Mason also went after Redford and her government in the legislature Thursday over the question of the party’s campaign contributions from Katz. Many questions could be cleared up if the party simply made the cancelled cheque or cheques public, he said.

“This morning, I asked NDP staff to dig up a cancelled cheque from a campaign donation I received and they took less than an hour to get it to me,” Mason said.

“Why does she refuse to release the cheque or cheques from Mr. Katz?”

After mocking the number of cheques the NDP received during the campaign, deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk said the party wants to allow the chief electoral officer to complete his investigation before they release information.

Mason also called on the government to enact legislation that prohibits corporate or union donations to political parties.