Liberal leader Khan warns PACs are ‘corrupting the democratic process’

CALGARY 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 last year. Many of the groups have been connected to conservative politics, taking action around the cause of uniting Alberta’s right and the Progressive Conservative leadership race.

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.

But Khan took aim in particular 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 uniting the right; and the recently formed Alberta Together PAC.

Alberta Together, whose executive director is former PC party president Katherine O’Neill, is seeking to unite centrists in the province, potentially in the Alberta Party.

The Liberals under the recentlyelected Khan have rejected working with other centrist parties.