Article content
After a more than five-year long investigation, Alberta RCMP Friday said there isn’t enough evidence to charge anyone in connection to allegations of fraud during the 2017 UCP leadership race.
In 2019, former UCP MLA Prab Gill filed two complaints to the RCMP over the leadership contest that saw Jason Kenney win 61 per cent of the vote, and eventually become premier.
Article content
The so-called kamikaze leadership campaign of Jeff Callaway came under the Mounties’ microscope after it was alleged he entered the race only to attack another candidate and pull out to endorse Kenney. While Callaway was fined by $70,000 by Elections Alberta for his part in the race, RCMP said Friday they did not uncover evidence to charge anyone with criminal fraud.
The race was also tainted with allegations of voter fraud, with some registered UCP voters saying they never cast a ballot, even though electronic records showed ballots were cast under their names.
While RCMP said they looked at “suspicious” votes from more than 1,200 individuals, they whittled that list down to 200 suspicious votes. However, while RCMP said they suspected instances of identity fraud, there wasn’t enough evidence to tie them to any suspects or lay charges.
The investigation, which involved 65 investigators, 1,200 interviews, translation assistance for Arabic, South Asian and Chinese languages, cost almost $461,000 in overtime and travel expenses – not including regular salaries.
Share this article in your social network
