EDMONTON—It has been a month since Alberta tapped a Crown prosecutor from Ontario to advise the RCMP on the investigation swirling around the United Conservative Party, but that person’s identity has yet to be made public.

The Mounties have been investigating allegations of voter fraud in the United Conservative Party’s 2017 leadership race after a former MLA of the party wrote a letter in February detailing accusations that fake votes had been cast during the contest through an email scheme.

The former MLA, Prab Gill, alleged that Premier Jason Kenney had benefited from the scheme.

The allegations have not been tested in court, and Kenney and the party have firmly denied them. A lawyer representing Kenney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Gill, who prior to raising the allegations to police was turfed from the party over a separate ballot-stuffing controversy.

“We’d be happy to see him in court under oath,” Kenney said at the time.

A spokesperson in the premier’s office recently told the Star that Kenney has not been contacted by the RCMP.

The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service announced on July 3 that it had arranged for a Crown prosecutor from Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General to “provide advice to police on any matters arising during the investigation.”

But repeated attempts to get the name of that individual have been stymied in Alberta and Ontario.

“As a general rule, when a special prosecutor is appointed, it’s publicized,” said Richard Peck, a Vancouver-based criminal lawyer who says he has served as a special prosecutor about 30 times over the course of his career.

In roughly his past 30 years of work, Peck said he couldn’t recall a time where his name as a special prosecutor hadn’t been made public. He has been involved as a special prosecutor in several high-profile cases involving politicians and the RCMP.

“It surprises me that the name isn’t out there; normally, when these things happen, the word spreads at least among the bar,” Peck said.

“People know, so I don’t quite understand it,” he said. “It’s a mystery.”

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It is known that Alberta’s Solicitor General Doug Schweitzer has spoken to the RCMP during the course of its investigation.

Schweitzer ran for the leadership of the UCP alongside former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean and Kenney.

Opposition critics said the situation appeared to present a conflict of interest for the minister, who won his Calgary-Elbow seat with the United Conservatives in April’s provincial election.

The idea behind bringing in a special prosecutor is to remove any real or perceived conflict of interest on the part of the government, which oversees the Crown prosecution service. It helps ensure there’s no potential for political interference with Crown attorneys as they carry out their duties.

The Star reached out to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service last week seeking the name of the prosecutor, but was told in an emailed statement from a communications officer that “no further information from the ACPS is available.

“Information on the processes and decisions of the Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario is for them to address.”

The Alberta office did not respond to a followup question from the Star asking if the branch knew the name and wouldn’t share it, or if it simply didn’t know the name.

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The Ontario ministry also refused to provide the information after an email from the Star cited numerous past examples where a special prosecutor’s name had been made public. For instance, in 2009 when former Ontario Liberal attorney general Michael Bryant was charged with criminal negligence causing death, and dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, in relation to an incident with a cyclist. Peck had served as a special prosecutor in the case. The charges were later withdrawn.

“The Crown’s legal advice to police is privileged and confidential, therefore we will not be making any comment in relation to it,” said the Ontario ministry’s press secretary Jenessa Crognali in an email. “In the examples you provided, the cases were before the court and the name of the prosecutors were on public record; whereas, this matter is still in the investigation stage.

“As this matter is still in the investigation stage, we are not able to comment further.”

But when asked about his role as special prosecutor in the Bryant case, Peck told the Star he had “absolutely” been named at the outset of his appointment.

“I don’t know of any case that I’ve ever handled where a member of the public could not at least have found out my name,” he said.

Peck called it “usual practice” in his province of British Columbia for a special prosecutor to be named on appointment, but conceded that there are some circumstances where that may not always be the case.

There could be specific terms around publicity in an appointment, explained Peck, or the investigation could be out of the public’s view. In the latter case, it could be determined that secrecy around an investigation could be important, but he said, “in many, many cases, your name is made public at the time of the appointment.”

Jonah Mozeson, press secretary for Alberta’s minister of justice, told the Star in an emailed statement, “it is important to note that neither the minister’s office nor the office of the premier have access to this information and frankly, they aren’t meant to.

“Decisions of this nature, and related information, are kept separate from political leadership in order to prevent any real or perceived conflicts of interest. The fact that we (minister and premier) do not know the name of the extra-provincial prosecutor assigned to this file is proof of the system working as it should.”

After it was revealed in May that Alberta’s solicitor general had been interviewed by the RCMP, the Opposition NDP began urging the government to appoint a special prosecutor in order to avoid any conflict of interest.

Kathleen Ganley, the NDP MLA for Calgary-Mountain View and former justice minister, said she found it “baffling” that the name wouldn’t be made public, or the reasons for that decision.

In Alberta, Ganley explained, the RCMP doesn’t need approval from a Crown prosecutor to lay charges. However, with such a complex case with potential political ramifications, police would likely seek advice from a prosecutor first, she said.

“It would be nice to be reassured like, ‘Here is the actual person in Ontario who will be handling this, who will ensure that none of the information is flowing back to the ministry of justice in Alberta,’” Ganley said.

“The public deserves to be able to see that for themselves.”

The RCMP has been questioning people as part of its investigation, and, so far, five United Conservative government ministers have been interviewed. Spokespeople for the ministers have confirmed the RCMP spoke with Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda, Culture and Multiculturalism Minister Leela Aheer, Associate Minister of Mental Health Jason Luan, Seniors and Housing Minister Josephine Pon, and Schweitzer. All ministers say they aren’t the subjects of the investigation.

With files from Rob Ferguson

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