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The general fundraiser Tuesday is being held at the Art Gallery of Alberta in downtown Edmonton. It was promoted on the party’s website as offering people a chance to mingle with the premier and NDP members of the legislature at a cost of $250 a ticket.

An event costing $1,000 a ticket is giving people access to the premier and the same MLAs for an hour before the main fundraiser, but in a separate room of the art gallery. Anyone buying the pricier ticket automatically gains entrance to the $250 event. It was not widely advertised.

The event was pitched one-on-one to select people through “phoning, e-mails, conversations,” O’Halloran said.

“It would have been more time … and give people more time to share their opinions and feelings.”

He did not say why the event was cancelled, but denied that the party was concerned it could be perceived as selling access to Notley and other NDP decision-makers.

If the premier and the NDP don’t think what they’ve been doing is wrong, then why have they been hiding it?

“We decided not to move forward with it,” he said. “That was a decision we made as a party.”

He said the decision had been made recently and that ticketholders would be offered refunds.

An hour after O’Halloran’s comments, Notley’s office said the event was on and had never been cancelled.

Oates said ethics commissioner Marguerite Trussler confirmed both fundraising events do not violate Alberta’s Conflicts of Interest Act.

Notley’s NDP has had problems over party funding tied to government events since its first days in office. Last May, the party was criticized for trying to raise money at the swearing-in of Notley and her cabinet.