The County of St. Paul has received a letter from Elections Alberta seeking information in regards to alleged illegal contributions made by the municipality to the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta.
Many municipalities are receiving the same letter, said CAO Sheila Kitz, when giving her monthly CAO report at council’s regular meeting on Nov. 8. The County must send a report to Elections Alberta within 30 days.
“They are requesting any information from any contributions from 2004 to current,” said Kitz, after the meeting.
Drew Westwater, director of elections operations and communications with Elections Alberta, confirmed a letter had been sent out to several municipalities mentioned specifically by the Wildrose party. The Town of St. Paul had not received a letter yet, but according to Westwater, a letter is being sent this week, addressing specific concerns.
Elections Alberta looks into complaints it receives, and the Wildrose made an official complaint, said Westwater.
“We’re looking for any information (the municipalities) have,” he said.
“You can’t place the blame on municipalities,” said Shayne Saskiw, Lac La Biche-St. Paul Wildrose candidate, last week. The Wildrose hopes the PC party will “come clean” about all contributions made by municipalities and “repay every single penny,” he said.
The local PC association paid back 15 donations to numerous parties between July and October, including the Town of St. Paul and the Lac La Biche ATB Financial, Town of St. Paul CAO and association treasurer Ron Boisvert said.
Elections Alberta will be sending out a “reminder letter” to all municipalities about the regulations in regards to municipalities contributing to political parties, said Westwater.
“It’s not a surprise,” said Kitz as she spoke to council last week about the letter. The County has sponsored a couple of teams for golf tournaments supporting the PC party, she added.
“We have to work with whichever party is there (in government),” said Coun. Frank Sloan in regards to the issue.
Coun. Glen Ockerman said he would attend events put on by other parties if they were available, not just PC-sponsored events.
In October of 2010, Elections Alberta sent out information to municipalities about contributing to political parties.
Municipalities contributing to the PC party came to the forefront last month when the Town of St. Paul received national media attention following an email sent by CAO Ron Boisvert from his Town of St. Paul email address, soliciting votes during the PC leadership election.
Questions then arose about municipalities’ involvement with the PC party and it was discovered despite rules stating otherwise, many municipalities have donated to PC party fundraisers.
