Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney says reports that Alberta separatists are targeting and spreading his personal information has prompted him to alter his security but won’t stop him from speaking out.
“I’m not someone to live in fear,” Kenney said Thursday in a phone interview from Ottawa.
“In fact, it only encourages me to double down on however I can contribute to the pro-Canada side.”
Earlier this week, Alberta’s Opposition NDP revealed a group seeking to have Alberta leave Confederation held a virtual meeting on April 16 to show a database containing names and home addresses of nearly three million Alberta voters.
The NDP said it has a video recording of the meeting and, in order to show how the app worked, Kenney’s name was searched and his home address was shown to everyone.
The publicly accessible app was organized by The Centurion Project, a group seeking support for separatism ahead of a fall referendum.
The Centurion Project was not legally allowed to have the list, and Elections Alberta went to court and had the app shut down.
The agency and the RCMP are investigating. The Centurion Project has said it relied on a third party for the data and has promised to co-operate with investigators.
Kenney, an outspoken opponent of Alberta’s separatist movement, said when he saw his information circulating, he knew there would be trouble.
“I immediately thought, ‘Oh here we go.’ Because I’ve received no shortage of threats over the years, including since leaving office, from that crowd,” Kenney said.
He said he has been a target on social media for his stance against separation, mostly from individuals who bounce from one far-right group to another.
“It’s filled with these people, and most of them are just over-caffeinated people with florid imaginations, posting from their basement, that are perfectly harmless,” he said.
Get daily National news
“But we’ve seen around the world that some of these people get so amped up that they can represent an actual threat.
“So I do take this seriously.”
Kenney was Alberta’s United Conservative Party premier from 2019 to 2022. Before that, he was a federal Conservative and served in prime minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet.
As federal defence minister and Alberta premier, there was always security with him, he said. But not now.
“You don’t (have security) as a private citizen, which is fine. But there are similar threats, and that’s been aggravated by this leak of personal information,” he said.
“I’m not going to talk about my personal security arrangements, but I’ve taken measures — prudent measures — since I learned about this.”
Kenney said the privacy breach isn’t just about him.
“Think of domestic violence victims, who might be hiding from their aggressors who could now have easy access to personal information as to their whereabouts, or journalists who might be on a hate list,” he said.
“There are a lot of people who are very concerned about this, and rightfully so.”
Kenney said he has been speaking to authorities and is glad the RCMP are involved.
- Edmonton councillor pitches ‘Forever Canadian’ street amid separatist push
- Eby says Ottawa is rewarding Alberta’s ‘bad behaviour’ with pipeline agreement
- More Ontario stores to open on Victoria Day in move government says brings ‘flexibility’
- Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith seeks advice on next steps following nomination loss
He is also consulting with lawyers about launching a lawsuit against those responsible for the breach.
“These guys have been doing a lot of outrageous things with little in the way of consequences.”
Kenney said the UCP had access to the full voter list when he was in charge, but nobody ever discussed using people’s private information.
“It would have been a firing offence,” he said.
Kenney has a long history with fringe right-wingers. A decade ago, he helped unite Alberta conservatives to create the UCP, and followed with a majority election win in 2019.
Three years later, though, Kenney resigned after receiving tepid support in a party confidence vote. He had endured criticism from some members over what they felt to be onerous and unnecessary public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Danielle Smith then won the party leadership, with support from organizers including David Parker. Smith attended Parker’s wedding, but the two have since had a public falling out.
Parker founded The Centurion Project.
Premier Smith and her government came under fire this week, after the UCP caucus said a staffer attended the Centurion Project’s April 16 meeting
The NDP said the government should have notified authorities immediately. But Smith said the staffer didn’t realize there was a data breach.
On Monday, organizers fighting to have Albertans vote on leaving Canada submitted what they say are enough signatures to trigger a referendum question on it in October.
Smith has said she wants to keep Alberta in Canada, but if enough signatures are validated the issue would go to a vote.
Kenney, Kenney, Kenney. Nobody cares about you or what you say. There are not any teams of International Assassins on rooftops waiting for you. No black clad Ninja Warriors sneaking around your back yard. No foreign governments tapping your phone. I doubt hardly anyone would even recognize you at a hardware store. So cut all this ‘I am scared for my life’ interviews on any media that will bother to listen to you.
Kenney has also said that the attacks against him have already started. Because of the release of his personal information.
1) A furnace cleaning company called him and asked if he needed his furnace cleaned.
2) A cellphone company called and tried to get him to switch to another cellphone provider
3) And the worst, a kid ACTUALLY came to his house and asked if he had any pop bottles to donate to a local soccer team.
Because of the attacks, Kenney has disconnected his phone and is hiding under his bed.
Yes, Tony, let’s put fat Nenshi in charge. Those union coffers need to be filled up with tax dollars. Lol
He got the “boot” from the UCP, so anything he says is suspected “sour grapes’. Yawn….
You should not have to do anything except have an election and choose
a new leader that sounds better than the current one.