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When asked for an explanation in August, someone using a Cheveldayoff leadership campaign email address told Benoit they “honestly do not know how the list is gathered.” A subsequent email from the same address described the incident as “troubling.”

“I just got off the phone with (Cheveldayoff) and asked him about your email. He wondered if he had your business card from somewhere but that is all we can think of,” wrote the unidentified person using the campaign email address.

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Cheveldayoff said his campaign received and dealt with a couple of complaints about unsolicited emails earlier in the race, but have not received any since then. Anyone who asks to be removed from an email or phone list is taken off immediately, he added.

When asked how his campaign obtained email addresses, Cheveledayoff said his team relies on current and past Sask. Party membership lists, as well as business cards and the names and email addresses of potential supporters sourced from business organizations and other groups.

Cheveldayoff said he has not used any other political lists, as “there is no need for it.” His campaign has “more than we can handle with just what we get from the Sask. Party,” which last month reported having 27,125 members, he added.

The StarPhoenix spoke with multiple federal Conservatives who reported receiving similar unsolicited emails from Cheveldayoff’s campaign. One of them is Lisa Stretten, who said she began receiving the emails around the same time as Benoit, despite the fact that she is not a Sask. Party member.