New fines levied over cash donated to Callaway campaign
Alberta’s election commissioner has slapped a political donor with $9,000 in fines related to the Jeff Callaway campaign, which has been at the centre of an ongoing UCP political scandal.
Happy Mann, a former Wildrose candidate and former UCP nomination candidate, was fined $3,000 for three offences Wednesday.
One penalty was for contributing to Callaway’s campaign with “funds given or furnished by another person,” and the two other fines were for providing other people with funds with the purpose of contributing to Callaway. Those donors were named as Kirandeep Mann and Gurpreet Mann.
In 2017, UCP Leader Jason Kenney squared off against contenders Callaway, former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean and Doug Schweitzer to successfully win the leadership bid.
Former party insiders have accused Kenney’s team of collaborating with Callaway’s campaign to sink Jean’s chances at winning the leadership race. The accusation is that Callaway targeted Jean during debates and media appearances, allowing Kenney to avoid making the attacks himself.
Callaway withdrew from the race just before the vote and endorsed Kenney. They have both denied making a deal.
There are also allegations of irregular donations to Callaway’s campaign. Election Commissioner Lorne Gibson handed an investigation about this to the RCMP, saying its seriousness transcended his purview.
Gibson has handed out other fines.
Earlier this month, political contributor Darcy McAllister was fined $4,000 for contributing $4,000 to the Callaway campaign with funds given or furnished by another person. McAllister was also fined $4,000 for providing $4,000 to another individual for the purpose of making contributions to the Callaway campaign.
Maja McAllister and David Ruiz, both labelled as political contributors by the commissioner, were issued letters of reprimand for contributing $4,000 and $3,000, respectively, to Callaway’s campaign with funds given by another person.
In February, Cameron Davies, Callaway’s campaign manager, was slapped with a $15,000 fine for “obstruction of an investigation.”
UCP member Karen Brown was also fined $3,500 by the commissioner’s office for donating money that came from other people to Callaway’s campaign.
NDP candidate for EdmontonGlenora, Sarah Hoffman, sent a letter to Kenney Wednesday asking him to make a sworn statement on the ongoing Callaway campaign saga.
Summer Strategy meeting
Mann recently made waves when he posted on Facebook saying that Kenney attended a strategy meeting on July 19, 2017, at Callaway’s house. He said attendees, including Davies, discussed a campaign aimed at discrediting Jean.
“We felt that it was important for Jason Kenney to win decisively and that this could only be guaranteed if another candidate took away from Jean’s popularity,” Mann wrote on Facebook.
“To show unity, we needed a big win.”
He wrote that the meeting established collaboration between the Kenney and Callaway campaigns, and decided that Callaway would eventually pull out of the race to endorse Kenney. Kenney said he met with Callaway to seek his endorsement.