Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) President Gil McGowan blasted Premier Danielle Smith for accusing unions of breaking election finance laws. “This is a lie,” tweeted McGowan. “We followed all the rules and filed all the required statements.” .The AFL will be demanding a retraction and is exploring its legal options. McGowan called accusing Alberta unions of overspending on ads while Smith spends millions of dollars on campaigns about the Canada Pension Plan and renewable energy “pretty galling.” Smith said at True North Live the Alberta NDP, unions and the media dogpiled on the United Conservative Party during the election. “And every person I know said they were seeing a multitude of negative ads,” she said. “You would go onto YouTube and would see dozens and dozens of ads.”.The Alberta UCP knows what its spending limit is. She predicted unions overspent by sevenfold or more.The UCP called for an investigation into the NDP's dealings with union bosses in May. READ MORE: UCP requests investigation into NDP relationship with provincial union bossesIt released a letter it sent to Elections Alberta about possible violations of the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act.It questioned NDP leader Rachel Notley and the party’s relationship with union bosses and its ongoing election activities.The Office of the Premier of Alberta could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
