EDMONTON—New allegations about a plot among political insiders place Jason Kenney at a meeting in the summer of 2017, personally discussing a scheme to run a “kamikaze” candidate to support his bid for the UCP leadership.

Hardyal “Happy” Singh Mann said Tuesday he wants to speak to investigators, alleging UCP insiders interfered in the 2017 leadership contest and used illegal donations to fund the campaign of Jeff Callaway.

He claims he met with Kenney and his leadership campaign manager on July 19, 2017 at Callaway’s house. Mann said that’s where he heard them discuss a plot to run Callaway, former president of the Wildrose Party, as a kamikaze candidate.

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The backroom politics allegedly involved in Callaway’s decision to enter the leadership race largely went unnoticed until last week, when a left-leaning political action committee (PAC) tweeted a link to a scandalous audio recording.

In the recording, veteran conservative political organizer Wendy Adam is heard telling two unidentified men that Callaway was put into the UCP leadership race to discredit then-Wildrose leader and fellow candidate Brian Jean while allowing Kenney to stay above the fray.

Adam tells two unidentified men that what she is about to tell them “has got to stay with you.” It’s unclear who taped the conversation.

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“The reason that we’re running Jeff (Callaway) as a serious campaign is because Jeff will be able to say things about Brian Jean that Jason Kenney cannot.”

“It’s a kamikaze mission,” said one unidentified man.

“Exactly,” said Adam.

Callaway entered the race in August 2017. He dropped out of the contest two months later but was highly critical of a Wildrose caucus deficit — an issue that plagued Jean in the leadership race — and spent much of his bid criticizing the former Wildrose leader.

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Adam has refused to comment on the recording, and Callaway told StarMetro last week that his campaign was based on its own merits. He dismissed allegations it was used to attack Jean.

Mann said he would sign an affidavit including details about the meeting he attended at Callaway’s house, where he alleges Kenney and his campaign manager John Weissenberger discussed the plan to use Callaway and how to fund it.

“I’m just waiting for (the) government to call me,” said Mann, who was disqualified from running in the UCP Calgary-Falconridge nomination race after allegations his supporters assaulted a local radio host. He has denied any connection to the incident.

Mann won’t discuss donations specifically on the advice of his lawyer but did disclose that while helping Kenney’s campaign, he also made a sizable $3,000 donation to Callaway’s.

“You have a very clear pattern here that I’ve been invited as Kenney’s key campaigner, and I’m the one who’s donating just to Jeff Callaway, not a single time to Kenney’s campaign,” Mann said. “I’m the middle man, (the) key person with everyone.”

In an email, Janice Harrington, executive director of the UCP, said Wednesday that the discussions appear to have occurred before the leadership race started and that it’s not unusual or illegal for competing campaigns to talk to each other.

When asked whether the party would welcome an investigation to clear up the allegations and whether anyone had been contacted about an investigation, Harrington only replied that no one in the party had been contacted by the elections commissioner.

Harrington did not directly address questions about whether Kenney personally attended the meeting but said the party officially denies “the tale told by Mr. Mann.”

She did provide a statement from Weissenberger, who appears to acknowledge a meeting with Callaway took place but noted such encounters are “part and parcel” to gaining support.

“Mr. Callaway indicated he was considering running. We told Mr. Callaway that the decision on whether or not to run was his, and that he would need to find his own funding should he choose to do so,” he said.

Weissenberger reiterated Kenney’s leadership team was solely focused on its own fundraising efforts and that it fully complied with all laws and regulations.

“It is not completely unheard of for individuals to try to play multiple sides,” he said, referring to Mann’s support for Kenney and Callaway.

Harrington also provided StarMetro a copy of an Oct. 26 letter sent to Mann explaining the party’s reasons for barring him from running in the Calgary-Falconridge nomination race.

Party officials expressed concerns about Mann’s apparent flippant response to the alleged assault and that he failed to disclose “important” information relating to his involvement with a commercial real-estate investment development.

“As has been repeatedly made clear, we will take appropriate action to protect the party and its many members from serious reputational harm,” Harrington wrote in the letter.

Mann declined to divulge “facts” or evidence corroborating his version of events related to the leadership race but maintains he would provide anything asked of him by a judicial inquiry or the election commissioner.

“Whatever I have … I will provide. I will not lie, and I will not hide the facts,” Mann said.

StarMetro obtained a copy of an anonymous complaint, filed Nov. 30 with Alberta’s election commissioner, that alleges illegal donations were made to the Callaway campaign using money from at least one PAC. In Alberta, an individual can only donate their own money to a leadership campaign.

The allegations in the complaint echo ones made by independent MLA Prab Gill in the Alberta Legislature on Dec. 6, when he alleged $40,000 “in very suspicious donations” were made through a PAC to a candidate who attacked Jean.

The complaint to the election commissioner suggests investigators examine contributions made by more than a dozen people, including Mann. Financial disclosure records show Mann and two of his relatives each contributed $3,000 to Callaway’s campaign.

Mann declined to speak about his donation with StarMetro but said he would discuss the matter with investigators if they approached him on the advice of his lawyer.

“If any authorities come and want to interview me or want to ask me about the facts, I will tell them the facts,” he said.

The Alberta’s Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act prevents the election commissioner from publicly disclosing whether a complaint has been filed or an investigation is underway. However, any penalty, fine or reprimand is eventually published online.

Cameron Davies, who served as Callaway’s campaign co-chair and donated $3,000 to his cause, is one of the donors identified in the complaint. Two members of his family contributed $3,000 and $4,000.

Davies said the trio had known Callaway for several years and that the money they contributed was theirs.

“We were never contacted or received money from anyone,” he said.

Davies said investigators hadn’t contacted him and he took aim at anonymous “politically motivated” allegations.

“I feel quite strongly about democracy, and I think that if we are going to enter a political culture where donors can be harassed for their political expression, and that’s what giving politically is … then there ought to be opportunities for both defence and reprisal,” he said.

Clarification — Dec. 19, 2017: This article has been updated from a previous version to more accurately reflect Mann's role in Kenney's leadership campaign.