EDMONTON — A former campaign manager for Premier Jason Kenney who was accused of physically blocking an investigator with Elections Alberta from doing her job has lost his appeal of the fine he received.

In June, Alan Hallman was fined $1,500 by the province’s chief electoral officer for obstructing an investigation related to Kenney’s 2017 campaign in the Calgary-Lougheed byelection.

That was the byelection in which the now premier won his seat after becoming leader of the United Conservatives.

Hallman, a longtime Alberta conservative operative, appealed the charge. The appeal was rejected this month by a Court of Queen’s Bench justice.

Court documents, obtained by the Star, outline how an Elections Alberta investigator went to Kenney’s campaign office to look into allegations around campaign materials. The allegations stemmed from the NDP, and ultimately an investigation found no wrongdoing regarding the materials.

The encounter between investigator Melanie Malchuk and Hallman on Nov 30, 2017, however, did not go smoothly.

According to the documents, Hallman ended up “ejecting” the investigator from Kenney’s office after telling her he’d be calling the police. Court filings say Hallman was accused of “physically blocking investigator Malchuk intentionally” and it was alleged he had “stopped her from taking investigative photos.”

In an affidavit, Hallman alleged he thought it was possible the investigator wasn’t an investigator with Elections Alberta at all, but speculated at the time she might be an “NDP plant.”

“The campaign to that point had been very partisan, hard fought, and even dirty,” he said.

Hallman alleged that the day after the incident, he found out that Malchuk was, in fact, an investigator.

Hallman also alleged the investigator had attempted to take some photos of a map, and that he asked her not to because there was personal information on it. Hallman denied he was hostile during the interaction and alleged that the investigator hadn’t properly identified herself.

A statement by the chief electoral officer, Glen Resler, included in the court files, presented a very different version of events.

The investigator had properly identified herself, Resler said.

“It was only after Ms. Malchuk didn’t accept some of your answers as credible that you became obstructive,” he said.

“At that point you suddenly demanded identification (which investigator Malchuk produced), blocked Ms. Malchuk from taking photos and threatened to call the police if she did not leave the campaign office.

“In my view, this sequence of events makes your claim that you didn’t believe investigator Malchuk was from Elections Alberta less credible.”

The judge sided with the chief electoral officer.

The judge found that the “process followed was procedurally fair and reasonable,” according to the office’s website.

The investigator told the Star via email on Wednesday that Hallman’s account of the events contained “scape-goating falacies toward me.” She directed requests for comment to Elections Alberta.

Hallman could not be reached for comment. Jonathan Denis, a past Progressive Conservative solicitor general and lawyer representing Hallman, declined to comment.

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Hallman was a campaign organizer with the UCP in the province’s spring election, but in a statement a party spokesperson said he “has no current role with the party.”

According to the investigation findings posted online, Hallman still hasn’t paid the $1,500.

The United Conservative government has been under fire in recent weeks for its move to fire former Alberta Elections commissioner Lorne Gibson, who had been investigating the party’s 2017 leadership race. The Hallman investigation was not part of Gibson’s files, having begun before the Election Commissioner’s office was established in Alberta.

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