After five years, the RCMP have revealed the results of their investigation into the inaugural United Conservative Party leadership race. But if you were looking for a smoking gun, you’re going to be disappointed.
While up to 200 fraudulent votes may have been cast in the 2017 leadership contest, the RCMP said at a Friday news conference the force doesn’t have enough evidence to charge any suspects or prove that candidates orchestrated any wrongdoing.
Superintendent Rick Jané told reporters they were providing an update on the high-profile probe because it relates to voting and democracy. The basis of the investigation involved allegations that Jason Kenney’s campaign cheated in the UCP’s 2017 leadership race, before he became Alberta’s premier.
While 200 potentially fraudulent votes should not be dismissed as nothing, the number would not have affected the outcome of a race Kenney handily won with more than 36,000 votes, around double what his nearest opponent, Brian Jean, received. While there were questions raised about funny business in the contest at the time, the RCMP said they didn’t receive a complaint until February, 2019.
Kenny, in a statement on social media Friday, said he was the victim of “baseless complaints” from two people he banned from running as UCP candidates because of what he described as unethical conduct. He called the defamatory accusation “obviously ridiculous bad faith complaints.”
“Today’s outcome is a total vindication of my 2017 leadership campaign, and the UCP’s administration of that election,” he said.
The RCMP, while taking five years before essentially closing their investigation, say they conducted hundreds of interviews, used 65 investigators, and spent more than $460,000 in overtime and travel expenses to British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. They also required translation for Arabic, South Asian and Chinese languages.
The 2017 leadership contest was conducted with voting online and by phone over three days, using personal-identification numbers.
The allegations were that fraudsters created e-mail addresses to receive PINs and vote using someone else’s name, without their consent. RCMP determined the number of votes at issue were fewer than 200, which was a small percentage of the 63,000 votes cast, according to the party.
Kenney garnered 61.1 per cent of the vote while Jean got 31.5 per cent. Doug Schweitzer received support from 7.3 per cent of voters.
The RCMP also looked into Jeff Callaway’s campaign for UCP leader after it was alleged the goal of his candidacy was to attack Kenney’s main rival, Jean, with plans to then withdraw and throw his support to Kenney. The Mounties said they did not find evidence that Callaway committed a crime.
Jean, in a statement said he is “glad there is closure” on the RCMP investigation.
“Prior to the 2022 leadership race, our party tightened safeguards to protect the rights of our members and ensure fairness and transparency,” Jean said. “Integrity in political processes matters, which is why I am proud of how our party ran the last leadership race.”
Jané said RCMP took the case seriously and success is not dependent on charges being laid.
“Our job is equally to clear people as it is to charge,” he said.
This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.
Wendy Cox