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You would think that our dear UCP government wouldn’t be so brazen in their attempt scuttle the investigation into their dark little web of political hackery.  Apparently not.  Their solution to being investigated by the Electoral commissioner is well… fire the electoral commissioner.

*blinks*

“The Office of the Election Commissioner has been dissolved and transferred to the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Alberta said in a news release Friday.Bill 22, the Reform of Agencies, Boards and Commissions and Government Enterprises Act, came into effect on Friday, the agency said.On Thursday, the legislature passed the bill, which included the firing of election commissioner Lorne Gibson.  Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Thursday the quick passage of the bill is the mark of a premier and government “consumed by power and unconcerned by the views of Albertans.”  Gibson was leading the investigation into the so-called “kamikaze” campaign of UCP leadership candidate Jeff Callaway and had levied fines against 15 people totalling $207,223.

Callaway allegedly entered the race to discredit former Wildrose leader, and Kenney’s chief rival, Brian Jean, only to drop out and endorse Kenney weeks later.  Kenney and Callaway deny they worked together to defeat Jean, but emails obtained by CBC News show high-ranking Kenney officials providing resources, including strategic political direction, media, and debate talking points, speeches, videos and attack advertisements, to the Callaway campaign.”

It should be readily apparent to both sides of the political spectrum that an investigation is warranted.  We, as a populace, need to be able to trust our democratic institutions.  It is bullshit like this that negates all the ‘get out the vote’ and ‘express your voice’ and ‘do your civic duty’ sentiment we are bombarded with before elections.

As a active citizenry we should be taking part in the political process the rest of the time, but that is another blog post.

“Edmonton-Manning MLA Heather Sweet, the NDP critic for democracy and ethics, sent a letter to Resler on Friday asking him to provide a report to the legislature on the steps he will take to preserve the material Gibson gathered during his investigation.

“Public confidence in the integrity of our democratic elections in Alberta has been significantly damaged,” Sweet wrote. “Any loss, misplacement or destruction of the evidence being gathered by Mr. Gibson in his investigations would lead to further irreparable damage to that confidence.”

This investigation is, rather ineptly, being swept under the carpet.  Thankfully the NDP is doing what good oppositions do, and not letting the issue be buried.

Source: cbc.ca