EDMONTON—Alberta RCMP have been probing allegations of voter fraud plaguing the United Conservative Party, and the investigation has now reached at least one federal Conservative candidate.

In response to questions about the investigation into the 2017 UCP leadership race, a spokesperson with the Conservative Party of Canada confirmed in an email Wednesday that Tim Uppal has met with police.

“Yes, I sat down with RCMP, but I was not the subject of the meeting,” read a statement from Uppal, passed along in an email from a CPC spokesperson.

The CPC did not respond to questions about when the meeting took place and whether Uppal had sought the advice of a lawyer.

Uppal, a former Conservative MP and cabinet minister under Stephen Harper’s government, is running in Edmonton again in the upcoming federal election, slated to take place in the next few months. A government spokesperson also confirmed that Uppal was contracted to work for the United Conservative caucus from May until the end of July doing stakeholder relations.

Responding to questions about the alleged fraud, Uppal affirmed he “did not operate any ‘voter kiosk.’”

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RCMP contacted about alleged mass voter fraud in Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party leadership run

The kiosks were first mentioned in a letter sent to the RCMP by former UCP MLA Prab Gill in February. The letter outlined an alleged scheme by Jason Kenney’s campaign to use fake emails to cast votes, saying the operation was carried out in various kiosks around Alberta.

Kenney has repeatedly denied the allegations laid out in Gill’s letter, pointing out that Gill was kicked out of the UCP after a separate ballot-stuffing controversy. Gill then sat as an independent member and has since left politics.

A lawyer representing Kenney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Gill after the allegations in the letter to the RCMP were made public. Kenney said “we’d be happy to see him in court under oath” at the time.

At least five Alberta government cabinet ministers have spoken with the RCMP during the investigation, including Solicitor General Doug Schweitzer, Seniors and Housing Minister Josephine Pon, Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda, Culture and Multiculturalism Minister Leela Aheer and Associate Minister of Mental Health Jason Luan.

All say they are not subjects of the investigation.

The RCMP also carried out a search on an auto shop owned by Calgary-East UCP MLA Peter Singh, just before the provincial election in April when he won his seat. Media reports stated that police seized several items, including electronic devices.

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“I stand firm on my innocence. I have fully co-operated with the RCMP,” Singh said in a statement at the time.

The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service recently tapped a Crown prosecutor from Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General to provide advice to the RCMP throughout their investigation.

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