EDMONTON—An independent MLA says he will be contacting the sergeant-at-arms and the office of the Speaker over a video shot of him by United Conservative staff that was posted on social media.

Prab Gill, formerly a UCP MLA and representative for Calgary-Greenway, told Star Edmonton in an interview on Tuesday that he met with a top official from Premier Rachel Notley’s office on Monday about a school deteriorating in his constituency.

But when he went to the Federal Building in Edmonton to meet with the official, he says he was met by three UCP staff members who were videotaping him outside an elevator.

The video was posted to Twitter later on Monday by the Unite Alberta Twitter account, which is listed as the official Twitter account for the office of party leader Jason Kenney.

“You’re trying to intimidate people, you’re trying to bully people at the workplace? This is insane,” said Gill.

The video, which Gill said was shot on a cellphone, was seemingly edited to give it the appearance of black-and-white security camera footage. The clip shows Jeremy Nolais, a government official, walking in slow motion to an elevator. Ten minutes later, the video’s caption reads, Gill shows up and appears to notice the camera, giving a thumbs-up to it.





“Wonder why Premier Notley’s senior adviser Jeremy Nolais was busy meeting with Independent MLA Prab Gill in the latter’s office this afternoon. Is the NDP Caucus about to gain a new MLA?” reads the Tweet made by the account.

Gill said the meeting was about a school in his constituency that he needed to get money for. He also said the videotaping and posting online amounted to intimidation.

“How low do we have to go? Like, what’s next? Somebody is going to be videotaping my kids playing in the playground now?” said Gill.

He plans to talk to the sergeant-at-arms and the Speaker’s office to find out about policies around this kind of activity and his feeling intimidated. When asked why he doesn’t go to the police, Gill said he expects the government officials he speaks to will be able to direct him on what to do next.

“I didn’t, obviously, tell my wife, because she would have freaked out. I didn’t tell my kids, like, of course, they’re going to be worried,” he said.

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He said his job is to meet the premier’s staff to help get things done in his constituency and that independent and opposition MLAs meet with them “all the time.”

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Speaking with reporters in Calgary on Tuesday, UCP MLA Jason Nixon said the video raises questions about why officials from the premier’s office are meeting with a “disgraced MLA” who was embroiled in a ballot-stuffing controversy before leaving the UCP.

“The video was filmed in a common area that’s between the United Conservative Party offices and Mr. Gill’s office. It was in a public spot,” Nixon said.

“I don’t think there’s any intention to intimidate anybody at all.”

When asked by a reporter if videotaping MLAs will be a tactic the party will continue to use, Nixon said other parties, including the NDP, record opponents as well, but that he’s not aware of an “active filming campaign to be taking place across the province.”

Nixon said the people who took the video happened to notice the “interesting” occurrence and decided to film it — but they weren’t actively “sitting outside of somebody’s office attempting to film something.”

He also said it would have been UCP staff who shot the video, but couldn’t say who they were.

Star Edmonton confirmed with the Legislative Assembly Office that they were “looking into” the video, but couldn’t give anymore details.

Gill and the UCP have been at odds recently, with the MLA having written to the RCMP suggesting Kenney had engaged in mass voter fraud during the party’s 2017 leadership contest.

Kenney has denied Gill’s allegations and suggested they amount to “conspiracy theories.”

Gill said he met with RCMP officials for close to four hours a few weeks ago about the letter he sent.

With files from Andrew Jeffrey

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