On Monday afternoon, the lawyer for former UCP leadership candidate Jeff Callaway will ask a Calgary judge to immediately shut down the investigation into his client’s so-called “kamikaze” campaign, arguing there is “no urgency” to question witnesses during an election period.
The emergency injunction application was filed at the Calgary courthouse late Friday afternoon with arguments to be heard by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Anne Kirker Monday afternoon.
Callaway, his wife and three other family members are named on the application, along with Robyn Lore. The six applicants — who were ordered to give statements to the Office of the Election Commissioner (OEC) — are seeking to have the investigation immediately suspended, at least until after Alberta’s provincial election.
“The interviews serve and are not rationally connected to the goal of preserving the integrity of the election process,” reads the application.
Elections commissioner Lorne Gibson is leading the investigation into the financing of Callaway’s campaign.
The OEC has issued $15,000 in fines on Callaway’s former communications director, Cam Davies, for obstruction of an investigation and identified five people who donated money that was not their own to that campaign.
‘No urgency’ to investigate
It’s alleged Callaway ran in 2017 for the purpose of targeting Jason Kenney’s top rival, former Wildrose leader Brian Jean, with a plan to step down before the vote and throw his support behind Kenney, who won the race.
Both Kenney and Callaway have denied that claim.
But CBC News has obtained emails showing higher-ups in Kenney’s campaign circle providing resources — strategic political direction, media, and debate talking points, speeches, videos and attack advertisements — to the Callaway campaign.
Kenney’s deputy chief of staff, Matt Wolf even emailed a resignation speech to Callaway the day he dropped out of the leadership race.
Robyn Lore has also been named as an applicant on the injunction paperwork. On March 18, Maclean‘s reported on $60,000 that was given to Cam Davies by Lore, money that Davies alleges was then redistributed to the Callaway campaign.
In that report, Lore does not dispute giving the funds to Davies, saying it was a loan. When contacted by CBC News, Lore did not dispute the accuracy of the Maclean’s report
Self-incrimination risk
Lawyers for Callaway and the other applicants plan to argue there is “no urgency” to investigate especially given the activities under the OEC microscope happened before the election period.
After refusing to adjourn the scheduled interviews with Callaway and members of his team, the OEC replied that “enforcement activities … must escalate during an election period.”
The emergency injunction is being sought following a week-long back-and-forth between Callaway’s lawyer and the OEC. After denying the adjournment request, the OEC also refused Callaway lawyer Ivan Bernardo’s demand it provide a letter guaranteeing investigators would not forward their findings onto RCMP.
There was concern the details provided to the RCMP would become public during the campaign and that the interviewees’ Charter right protecting against self-incrimination was at risk, according to the court document.
Albertans who are compelled to give statements to the OEC are victims of a breach of their Charter right to participate in the electoral process, the application argues.
Bernardo will also argue the OEC breached the Elections Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act (EFCDA) when disclosing to witnesses the names of others who are being investigated, shared details of the investigation and made posts on social media.
Privacy breach alleged
With key witnesses still to be interviewed and Gibson having already made “findings,” the commissioner has been accused of bias and making “pre-determined conclusions,” according to the application.
Of particular concern to the applicants is the letter sent to Hardyal (Happy) Mann by the OEC, which was leaked to the media, lists a number of findings, including a claim from Mann that he was “manipulated by senior UCP members to participate in this contribution scheme.”
“This is inappropriate and a breach of your privacy obligations,” reads a letter sent from Gibson to the OEC last Wednesday.
The letter also takes issue with the OEC’s findings in the letter to Mann that there was “a plan to assist Jason Kenney” by running Callaway as a “kamikaze” candidate and that contributions were made “knowing that there were questionable and unethical motives behind the Callaway Campaign.”
The election commissioner found Mann contributed a total of $9,000 to the Callaway campaign that was not his own, after he agreed to attach names to contribution forms that had pre-filled amounts of $3,000 for himself and two others.
The RCMP is also investigating the UCP leadership race, and on Thursday the UCP confirmed it was in contact with the force.