The United Conservative Party is accusing three labour unions of promoting the Alberta NDP without disclosing donors, violating the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act (EFCDA).
In a letter to Elections Alberta on May 2, the UCP accused the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), the Canadia Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Alberta and the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) of being third-party advertisers to benefit Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley.
The letter also accused the three labour unions of “colluding” with the Alberta NDP to exceed contribution and expense limits while failing to submit proper financial reports.
CUPE Alberta and the AFL are paying a lot of money for extensive ad campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Google and YouTube, the UCP alleged.
In a follow-up letter on Tuesday, the UCP expressed concerns that Elections Alberta is not taking action to start an investigation against the Alberta NDP.
The UCP also accused Notley’s party of giving disproportionate power to labour unions and their leadership, whom the UCP claim hold additional positions in the Alberta NDP caucus.
The party is urging Elections Alberta to investigate the alleged breach of the EFCDA and demand all three labour unions to immediately cease and desist all advertising campaigns.
“The law is clear that affiliated third parties are prohibited from undertaking advertising to benefit the NDP or any other party, but evidence shows this is happening right now in Alberta,” said Dustin van Vugt, executive director of the UCP.
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“These two union organizations are spending tremendous amounts of money to promote Rachel Notley and the NDP without disclosing their donors, and the leadership of these unions holds dual roles with the unions they work for and the NDP, which we believe is an egregious conflict of interest that violates the law.”
Alberta NDP spokesperson Malissa Dunphy said the UCP’s allegations are an attempt to distract voters from UCP Leader Danielle Smith’s previous comments comparing mandatory vaccination policies to the Nazi regime.
“Working people have always been at the heart of our movement, and we are proud to have Alberta workers represented in our party,” Dunphy said in an email to Global News.
“This is simply an attempt from Danielle Smith and the UCP to distract from Smith comparing 75 per cent of the province’s population to Nazi sympathizers, and Albertans aren’t buying it.”
In an email to QR Calgary, Elections Alberta said it is unable to comment on allegations it has received nor on the investigations due to restrictions in the Elections Act and the EFCDA.
The provincial election administrator said it will publish findings if any of the investigations conclude the following:
- An administrative penalty is imposed.
- A letter of reprimand is issued.
- A person or organization who is the subject of completed or pending investigation has requested to publish the findings.
- A person who requested an investigation has requested to publish the findings.
AFL president Gil McGowan called the UCP’s allegations “unfounded” and potentially libelous, saying the AFL has fully complied with regulations set out in the EFCDA.
“The complaint filed with Elections Alberta is clearly a desperate attempt by the UCP to change the channel on what has been a very bad week for them on the campaign trail,” McGowan said in an emailed statement.
“Having said that, I want to make it clear that we at the AFL have complied with all the rules regarding spending and disclosure set out in Alberta legislation, and we have never missed a filing deadline with Elections Alberta.
“I also want to stress that it is the job of the Alberta Federation of Labour to stand up for the working Albertans we represent. That is exactly what we’re doing.”
The ATA made similar comments, saying education is a bipartisan issue and shouldn’t be associated with one party.
“Our work in promoting public education is consistent with the objects set out in the Teaching Profession Act, which compel the ATA to ‘arouse and increase public interest in the importance of education and public knowledge of the aims of education, financial support for education, and other education matters,'” the ATA said in an emailed statement.
“Our efforts to engage our members and the public around public education are nonpartisan in nature, and we have invited representatives from the UCP and the NDP, as the two parties represented in the last legislative assembly, to present to teachers on their visions for public education.
“The ATA is a nonpartisan organization that has no formal ties or any affiliation with the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) or any other party. There are no ‘deep structural connections,’ and any references to the NDP constitution suggesting otherwise are false in their interpretation.”
Global News reached out to CUPE Alberta with requests for comment.
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