Advocacy group Act for Edmonton avoids third-party advertiser status

A political advocacy group is skirting around third-party advertising rules by promoting Edmonton council candidates through emails to prospective voters.

Act for Edmonton, a group championing progressive values, has spent about $59,000 on Facebook advertising within the last year geared toward the upcoming Edmonton election. Residents who signed up to get more information about the group online are also receiving individual emails promoting specific council candidates depending on their ward.

In an email obtained by Postmedia, Act for Edmonton team lead Greg Mady said the group is “showcasing candidates” who will champion issues such as accessible housing, improving public transit and speaking out against privatization. He named two specific candidates who are in line with the group's platform according to a survey sent out to candidates earlier this year.

But none of these actions deem the group a third-party advertiser under the new rules in place for this election, meaning they don't have to register or disclose their donations.

Third-party advertisers are individuals or groups who publicly support or oppose a specific candidate. These parties would be required to register with Edmonton Elections if they incur expenses or contributions of at least $1,000.

In this case, because the promotion of candidates was done in private to those who subscribed to emails, Elections Alberta spokeswoman Pamela Renwick said the group isn't required to register and isn't in violation of the rules.

Mady argued the group isn't trying to avoid registering as a third-party advertiser, and instead is working to follow the new rules by promoting candidates through email and not publicly. Although, this means they won't need to disclose how much money they raised or who donated.

The goal of the email campaign, Mady said, isn't to endorse specific candidates, but to let voters with similar values know which candidates they align with. Mady is also the president of the Edmonton & District Labour Council.