Alberta Fact Check: Which side has been more transparent about referendum funding?

Based on the public record, Alberta's registered independence campaigns have disclosed their finances while Forever Canadian continues to refuse to identify its financial backers.

 

Facebook / Thomas A. Lukaszuk

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has warned of possible foreign interference in the referendum campaign and says CSIS should investigate. But the more immediate transparency question may be much simpler: Who is paying for the campaigns already operating in Alberta?

Under Alberta's Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act, any organization that spends or raises at least $1,000 on referendum advertising must register as a Referendum Third Party Advertiser (TPA) with Elections Alberta and comply with contribution and financial reporting requirements.

The major organizations supporting a vote on Alberta independence have registered and begun filing the financial disclosures required under Alberta law.

By contrast, Thomas Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian campaign has repeatedly refused to publicly identify who is financing its operations, despite running a sophisticated province-wide campaign, purchasing advertising, producing campaign material and actively organizing against independence.

If Albertans are worried about outside influence, they should begin by asking who is financing Forever Canadian.

The issue has become even more pointed because Lukaszuk himself has publicly argued that his organization can legally accept donations from outside Alberta. Without donor disclosure, Albertans cannot independently determine where Forever Canadian's financial support originates.

The reporting regime is designed so voters can evaluate who is attempting to influence the referendum before they cast a ballot. When one side files disclosure reports while another declines to reveal its funding sources, voters inevitably have less information about one campaign than the other.

There is no public evidence that Alberta's registered independence campaigns are concealing their financing. They are operating within Elections Alberta's disclosure framework and filing the reports required of registered Referendum TPAs.

Until Forever Canadian's donors are identified, questions about the campaign's funding will remain unanswered.

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Sheila Gunn Reid

Chief Reporter

Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.

https://mybook.to/sheila

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