For Immediate Release
October 25, 2018
UCP NOMINATION CANDIDATE RESIGNS AFTER TAKING ILLEGAL CAR DEALER DONATION
RED DEER – A UCP nomination candidate has resigned from a nomination race after breaking the province’s election financing laws and taking a corporate contribution from a car dealership. Haley Wile, running for the UCP nomination in Red Deer- South, received a reprimand from the province’s Election Commissioner and had to pay back the illegal contribution.
Alberta’s Election Commissioner lists on their website that Wile received a letter of reprimand and fine for taking illegal contributions a full month ago.1 Wile resigned yesterday, stating she has resigned “for unforeseen, personal circumstances.”2
The Election Commissioner wrote in a letter to the original complainant on October 23 that Wile broke the law “when she accepted an illegal contribution from Red Deer Motors. Further, Red Deer Motors was found to have violated sections 15.1 and 16 of the Act as corporations are strictly prohibited from contributing to any political campaigns in Alberta.”3
This week the NDP has written to the Election Commissioner to investigate possible violations of the same act from the United Conservative Party, the political action committee Shaping Alberta’s Future and the Motor Dealers’ Association.
The UCP seems to think there is one set of rules for their party and another for all other parties. That’s not how the laws surrounding election financing work.
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