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Kim Krushell, a board member and former Edmonton city councillor, proposed Hallman’s membership be suspended for six months. Others at the meeting, says Krushell, were concerned that a six-month suspension was illogical because memberships last a year. So, says Krushell, she accepted a friendly amendment to make it a year-long time-out.

“I like Alan Hallman,” says Krushell. “I worked with Alan on Jim Dinning’s leadership campaign. I didn’t want to put the motion to the floor. But I had to do it. When people break the rules, there have to be consequences.”

The motion passed, according to the public minutes, unanimously.

There were 38 people voting in the room, and another four on the phone.

Both Krushell, and PC party president Katherine O’Neill, agree they saw Ric McIver, the interim leader of the PC party, vote in favour of the motion.

“He raised his hand. I witnessed him raise his hand,” says O’Neill. “He did. I don’t know why he’s going back on this.”

They say the suspension was also supported by Sonia Kont, the president of the PC youth organization. (Kont said she abstained from voting.)

O’Neill says she then asked people to confirm that the vote was indeed unanimous.

“This was a big deal. A suspension is something that we take seriously. It was unanimous. No one objected or abstained.”

The vote was duly recorded, and, says O’Neill, email notices were sent to all four of the leadership campaigns. It wasn’t long before the news of Hallman’s suspension hit social media as a weekend wonder.

By the next day, McIver was posting pictures of himself to Twitter, buddy-buddy with Hallman.