WATCH ABOVE: As the province ramps up for an expected spring election, so too do the nomination races. But they haven’t gone smoothly. Multiple candidates for different ridings have been disqualified in recent weeks and it has many calling the process unfair. Eric Szeto reports.
EDMONTON — Katherine O’Neill was voted in as the PC candidate in Edmonton-Meadowlark Saturday following controversy in the riding earlier this week.
The PC party disqualified a candidate in the Edmonton-Meadowlark nomination race Friday after bribery allegations surfaced.
In an emailed statement, the PC Alberta nomination committee said it had decided to disallow the candidacy of Tom Choucair. The statement gave no reason for the decision and did not address the allegations.
“I’m very devastated by the news. We worked very hard on this campaign,” said Choucair.
Choucair says he received a phone call Friday afternoon telling him he had been disqualified.
“When I asked (why I was disqualified) the answer was, ‘You are not the type of candidate we want,'” he explained Friday night. “That’s it.”
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Earlier in the day, candidate Steve Benson claimed he was offered money to drop out of Saturday’s race.
In an emailed statement, Benson said he was approached by a representative of another campaign and offered enough cash to cover all of his nomination expenses if he quit.
Benson said he reported the incident to Edmonton-Meadowlark’s PC nomination committee and the executive director advised him to file an affidavit about the alleged bribe.
“At no time did I entertain any scheme that involved rule violations or back room deals that ultimately would have hurt the party or the association,” said Benson.
Two candidates remain in the race: Benson and Katherine O’Neill.
In an emailed statement Friday, O’Neill said she is in no way associated with Benson’s allegations.
“The reason I got into politics was to restore integrity and honour to public service. These allegations trouble me deeply, and I’m confident the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta will address them thoroughly before tomorrow’s vote.”
Premier Jim Prentice addressed the nomination controversy Saturday, saying the party hasn’t broken any rules.
“There’s 87 of these nominations going on across the province, so challenges in a couple of them are not unexpected. We have had a vetting process, we have had a nomination committee responsible for that and they have taken care in each and every constituency,” said Prentice.
The accusation comes as Edmonton-Ellerslie MLA Naresh Bhardwaj is under investigation for a similar claim. Earlier this week, Global News obtained two sworn declarations that allege Bhardwaj bribed supporters of his opponent in the race for the PC nomination in the riding. The allegations have not been proven.
On Friday, Bhardwaj denied the allegations and announced he would step down from his post as associate minister of persons with disabilities while the PC Association of Alberta investigates.
*Editor’s note: This story was originally published Friday, March 13, 2015. It was updated at 6:25 p.m. MT Saturday.
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