CALGARY- Global News has learned there was an organized effort by some developers to track down who was behind a secretly taped video earlier this year.
In it, the founder of Shane Homes outlines a plan to try and control city council. Cal Wenzel later denied that he was trying to buy votes, but defended his right to organize support for pro-development candidates.
An e-mail has been obtained by Global News in which the office of Jay Westman of Jayman Masterbuilt asks those people who attended the meeting to sign a seating chart.
“They spent a couple of weeks trying to figure out who leaked it, they couldn’t, so now they are reaching out for a seating plan,” explains political scientist Duane Bratt, who has followed the saga closely. “My question is ‘why’, and I don’t think it’s purely curiosity, I think it’s about intimidation and I think it’s about punishment.”
The CEO of the Urban Development Institute – speaking on behalf of Westman and Wenzel – denies any threats were made.
“Those guys were in a room where they felt they were having a conversation, and then something like that happened,” explains Guy Huntingford. “They were trying to figure out who was there, so they could get some more communication back to them.”
Huntingford also questions why the e-mail resurfaced just days before the municipal election—despite being sent out days after Global News broke the story in April.
He says it’s time to move past the controversy and get back to talking about the cost of growth which he says is one of the key issues facing the new council.
Comments