Donationgate, Part Four: The Jasper Connection
In Alberta, important public servants such as city councillors, school boards and university officials are routinely invited to donate taxpayer money or participate in partisan political fundraisers for the governing Progressive Conservative Party. These public servants feel immense pressure to comply for fear of losing provincial government support for their communities.
Last week Albertans learned that the PCs spent $70,000 of the taxpayers’ money on a pre-election Tory retreat at the swanky Jasper Park Lodge. But this isn’t the first time questionable partisan activity at taxpayer expense has made the news in Jasper.
Jasper
The October 19, 2011 edition of The Fitzhugh, Jasper’s local paper, reported that municipal manager George Krefting had claimed a $200 contribution to the PC party association as an out-of-pocket expense back in 2007. Krefting eventually reimbursed the town in October 2011, characterizing the improper reimbursement claim as an “honest mistake.”
Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman doesn’t blame municipal officials for improper donations, saying a culture of fear and intimidation compels Albertans to play ball.
“Every time we raise this issue, provincial government spokespeople are quick to put the blame on the people making the donations,” Sherman says. “But these people wouldn’t be making the donations in the first place if they weren’t heavily solicited to do so with invitations to golf tournaments, Premier’s dinners and other PC fundraisers. When is the Premier going to tell her party to stop sending out solicitations for illegal donations? When is she going to tell the party to pay back these illegal donations?”
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Attached: The Fitzhugh story from October 19, 2011
For further information, contact:
Earl J. Woods, Senior Communications Advisor
(780) 904-5430
Denis Lapointe, Director, Southern Alberta Liberal Caucus Office
(403) 860-4330