EDMONTON—The United Conservative government is getting rid of the Alberta election commissioner currently investigating their party for multiple alleged wrongdoings, including orchestrating a so-called kamikaze candidate during the leadership campaign.

As part of some wide-ranging budget implementation legislation tabled on Monday, the government decided Lorne Gibson’s time as Alberta’s Election Commissioner is done. His office — including staff and investigators — will be folded into the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

Over the past year, the commissioner has levied tens of thousands of dollars in fines against UCP faithful for offences ranging from illicit campaign donations to obstructing an investigation.

The leader of the NDP, Rachel Notley, held a press conference to blast the decision as “an attack on Alberta’s democracy.”

“For Mr. Kenney to fire the election commissioner in the middle of an open investigation into the conduct of his own party during his leadership race is, as far as I know, without precedent in Alberta’s history,” she said.

“It reeks. It reeks of political interference.”

Once Bill 22, the government’s budget implementation legislation, becomes law, Gibson’s contract will be terminated. The legislation was tabled on Monday and will likely pass, with the majority of the legislature being made up of UCP members. Gibson’s contract was set to expire in 2023.

There are currently five full time equivalent positions, including staff and investigators, currently working in the election commissioner’s office.

According to a government spokesperson, the UCP caucus also moved to allow themselves the ability to allocate how much time could be allowed for debate on the bill. If used, this would restrict the NDP to about four hours of debate on the decision to fire Gibson.

“They could ram it through in two days,” said Notley.

The election commissioner’s office has been busy over the last year investigating several high-profile allegations levelled against the UCP and now Premier Jason Kenney.

Before this change, the election commissioner’s office operated independently from the office of the chief electoral officer.

The future of the ongoing investigations in that office is now up in the air. The CEO, Glen Resler, can now decide the fate of the investigations he inherits or leave them to the next election commissioner he’s allowed to hire to work under his watch.

Under the new changes announced Monday, which apply to the Election Act and the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act, the chief electoral office can now choose to hire a new election commissioner to work in that office, or act as the election commissioner themselves. The CEO will also have the option to hire Gibson back.

All proceedings before the courts that stemmed from election commissioner investigations are also now part of the CEO’s jurisdiction.

Notley called on Kenney — who is out of the country this week visiting Texas — to reverse the decision. She also vowed to consult legal council and contact the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Lois Mitchell, about the next steps they could take, adding that Mitchell could choose not to sign a bill.

Alberta’s Finance Minister Travis Toews explained the move as one that would streamline government services and make things more efficient. He said it will also save taxpayers about $200,000 per year over five years — which is about the cost of Gibson’s annual salary.

“We are consistent with our approach of streamlining government,” said Toews, when asked why he was firing Gibson.

“We are moving the election commissioner office ... into the chief electoral office, and so by virtue of that, the new role will look somewhat different.”

Toews underlined the stipulation that the CEO could hire Gibson back should they chose to, but balked at the notion that the optics of the move were bad when pressed by reporters during a news conference.

“We are doing nothing here that will undermine any current investigations that are taking place,” he said.

Those investigations include the kamikaze probe, which has seen around $200,000 in fines levelled against several party faithful, such as former UCP leadership contestant Jeff Callaway, who has been slapped with about $70,000 in fines since allegations surfaced against him in 2018.

According to documents leaked to Star Edmonton, Callaway ran a kamikaze campaign in the 2017 UCP leadership race on behalf of Kenney’s campaign team in order to act as a proxy — attacking Kenney’s biggest rival, former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean.

Callaway has applied for a judicial review in court over the fines levelled against him and is set to have his case heard in September, 2020.

As part of his court filing, the election commissioner’s investigation findings were available to Star Edmonton, and they said Callaway also fuelled his kamikaze campaign with illicit money from a corporate entity, Agropyron Enterprises Ltd., to the tune of $60,000.

There’s been an investigation into allegations of bribery regarding UCP MLA Peter Singh by the office, and it has also turned over information to the RCMP as it carried out its own probe.

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The RCMP has been carrying out a separate investigation into the 2017 UCP leadership race over allegations of identity fraud during the voting process, also levied against Kenney’s camp.

Furthermore, in August, Star Edmonton revealed the commissioner’s office had opened up an investigation into allegations Kenney and his campaign team may have solicited contributions in kind that amounted to more than $20,000 — accusations which, if true, could violate election laws in the province. The alleged events occurred in 2017 and 2018 when Kenney was campaigning, but the party and Kenney himself have denied any wrongdoing.

It’s unclear what the status of those investigations are currently as the commissioner’s office doesn’t comment publicly on probes. However, the most recent fines levelled in the kamikaze investigation were announced earlier this month on the commissioner’s website.

The explanation from the government that the firing was part of a move to find efficiencies didn’t hold water with Melanee Thomas, a University of Calgary political scientist.

“They’re actually using the power of the state to silence an independent body that’s simply enforcing election and campaign finance law,” she said. “I haven’t seen any political scientist across the country look at this and not be like, ‘This is corrupt.’ In any other context, that’s what we would call it.”

The election commissioner’s office is new and was created by legislation brought in by the NDP, but Thomas said it’s important to remember that these offices are independent and non-partisan by design.

“Every democracy does this and every democracy needs to do this,” she said.

Jonah Mozeson, a spokesperson for the minister of justice and solicitor general, said in an email that “the chief electoral officer will have full authority to continue or initiate any investigation currently being pursued by the commissioner, in line with existing Alberta law.”

“This administrative change will not affect the substantive oversight or investigatory powers under any of the relevant acts,” said Mozeson.

While it shocked the NDP, this is not Gibson’s first rodeo.

In 2009, when he was the chief electoral officer, Gibson was fired by the then Progressive Conservative government in Alberta, but was later reinstated in 2018 as the province’s first election commissioner while the NDP was in power. At the time, his salary was reported to be around $200,000.

Following the 2008 Alberta general election, Gibson released 181 recommendations to strengthen the province’s election laws, before being let go the next year.

Two years later he filed a lawsuit against the provincial government and the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, alleging he had been terminated without cause.

Gibson’s affidavit implies he saw the dismissal as politically motivated. He alleged he’d been described as “too independent,” adding, “I questioned too much and didn’t leave things as they were.”

His lawsuit was later dismissed before he was brought in as the election commissioner.

Gibson wasn’t available for an interview on Monday.

With files from Claire Theobald

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