Elections Alberta investigating finances of conservative group Take Back Alberta

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Elections Alberta is investigating the finances of Take Back Alberta, a socially conservative group that helped bring Premier Danielle Smith to power and remains influential within her United Conservative Party.

But David Parker, leader of Take Back Alberta, which is a registered third-party advertiser, is accusing the independent, non-partisan elections office of corruption and said its investigation is a “fishing expedition.”

He is refusing to provide Elections Alberta with his donor list because he said contributors were not donating for political advertising and does not want to subject them to harassment from “left-wing extremists.”

“They want everything. They want every financial transaction. They want receipts for every meeting we’ve held,” he said in an interview Thursday, adding that the records being requested date back to February, 2022, and are in regard to more than 100 events held by TBA last year.

TBA was co-founded by Mr. Parker in 2021 in response to anger over COVID-19 restrictions implemented under then-premier Jason Kenney. The group has since transformed into a turbulent but influential faction within the UCP with critics arguing Mr. Parker has the ear of Ms. Smith, who attended his wedding last year. At least half of the UCP’s board is comprised of directors who were endorsed by the right-wing group.

Mr. Parker was notified last November of the investigation by Elections Alberta in relation to the “activities and financial filings” of TBA.

A letter addressed to him from Election Commissioner Paula Hale on March 12, provided to The Globe and Mail by Mr. Parker, stated that at a Friday in-person interview, he was to give oral evidence under oath relating to his activities as TBA’s chief financial officer. Elections Alberta said Mr. Parker did not show up for a scheduled interview earlier this month and his legal counsel did not respond to subsequent correspondence.

Mr. Parker said he has “co-operated fully” but he won’t give them records that they “don’t have a right to.” On Friday, dozens of people showed up at the Elections Alberta office in Edmonton for a TBA-organized rally.

Mr. Parker on Friday said he was questioned by investigators for more than two hours and that both he and Elections Alberta had legal counsel present.

“They’re trying to claim that town halls, where I tell my story and encourage people to get involved in politics, were election advertising because I say I don’t like the NDP,” he said.

Elections Alberta spokesperson Robyn Bell, in a statement, said the office cannot comment on continuing investigations in accordance with the Election Act and Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act.

She said all third-party advertisers are subject to reporting requirements. An advertising contribution is any money, real property, goods, or services provided to or for the benefit of the third party for the purpose of advertising without returned compensation to the contributor, Ms. Bell noted. Money paid from a third party’s own funds for election or political advertising must also be reported as contributions.

Elections Alberta publishes reports that include the names of donors and the amount they donated if it exceeds $250.

TBA has been registered as a political third-party advertiser (TPA) since February, 2022, and an election third-party advertiser since last April, roughly one month before the general election won by Ms. Smith.

The Elections Alberta website shows it has yet to receive the TBA’s 2023 financial statements, which Mr. Parker said is because he won’t “obey orders from a corrupt organization.” Take Back Alberta reported zero donations and zero expenditures as an election TPA for 2023.

Ms. Bell, speaking generally, said funds used for activities that do not fall into the scope of political or election advertising are not subject to disclosure but must come from a separate bank account. Mr. Parker said TBA has separate accounts.

Advertising expenses include the ad itself (such as billboards and television airtime), canvassing for a registered political participant and organizing events where the purpose is to promote or oppose a political participant. This includes events where “an election, a registered party, or a candidate is referred to directly or indirectly at the event or in the promotional materials.”

Mr. Parker maintains that TBA meetings were not a form of political advertising.

Chaldeans Mensah, an associate professor of political science at MacEwan University, said Mr. Parker’s protest amounts to intimidation. “Take Back Alberta can’t be given special treatment. Everybody must play by the same rules,” he said.

Dr. Mensah said it will be difficult for Mr. Parker to prove donations were not used for political advertising. He said social media makes it particularly complicated.

TBA has run a number of ads, costing thousands, on its official Facebook page since it was created in March, 2022, according to Facebook’s advertising database. The latest ad, that ran in February and March, was in support of Alberta withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan, a policy promoted by Premier Danielle Smith.

Other ads promoted an event on “gender ideology in classrooms” with controversial figure James Lindsay, encouraged people to sign petitions against the Liberal government’s fertilizer emissions target and to replace Alberta Health Services – issues in step with the priorities of the UCP government.

In March, 2022, a TBA ad encouraged people to become a UCP member and vote for a “pro-freedom leader” with a link to the UCP website.