A former Calgary alderman has filed a complaint with Alberta’s Chief Electoral officer alleging that Calgary mayoral candidate Jyoti Gondek used third-party funds to pay for a city-wide brochure mail-drop..But a spokesman for Gondek is denying the allegations outright, saying the $37,740 cost was completely covered by money raised by the campaign..“As a former Calgary City Councillor, I recognize that the integrity of our elections financing laws are paramount to our democracy,” Joe Connelly wrote to Glen Resler, Chief Electoral Officer..“Recently, I learned that Jyoti Gondek, a declared candidate for mayor, engaged a Political Action Committee (a third party PAC) to develop, print, and mail a campaign brochure to substantially all of the City of Calgary.. Joe-ConnellyJoe Connelly .“This appears to be a direct violation of s. 166 of the Local Authorities Elections Act (Alberta) which reads as follows:.“166(1) A registered third party shall not circumvent, or attempt to circumvent, a contribution limit or an expense limit set out in Part 5.1 or an expense limit set out in this Part by colluding with a candidate..“(2) A candidate shall not collude with a third party to circumvent, or attempt to circumvent, a contribution limit or an expense limit set out in Part 5.1 or an expense limit set out in this Part..“I would ask that this be investigated, the appropriate fines be levied, and the results made public.”.A campaign official for Gondek, Stephen Carter, told the Western Standard that Connelly’s allegation was completely without basis..“The entire cost was paid for using campaign funds. Where’s (Connelly’s) evidence? Is it just made up?” he said..After serving one term as alderman, Connelly ran for mayor in a 2010 race Naheed Nenshi won. .“Maybe he’s upset because he just got one per cent (of the vote) in 2010,” Carter said..In an interview, Connelly said he filed a complaint because the pamphlet “didn’t pass the smell test.”.He said several things raised his concerns..“If you look at the pamphlet, it’s gorgeous, very professionally done and very expensive,” said Connelly, adding it would have been extremely difficult to raise money in these economic times..He also questioned the timing of the mail-out being so far ahead of the October 18 election. Connelly said election funding laws have recently been tightened making it more difficult to raise money..“To have raised this amount of money so far just doesn’t make sense,” he said. Unfortunately, the pamphlet did contain a typo with “Time” being spelled as “Tme.”. Screen-Shot-2021-02-23-at-1.01.44-PMPamphlet typo .The allegations have not been proven..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter.com/nobby7694
A former Calgary alderman has filed a complaint with Alberta’s Chief Electoral officer alleging that Calgary mayoral candidate Jyoti Gondek used third-party funds to pay for a city-wide brochure mail-drop..But a spokesman for Gondek is denying the allegations outright, saying the $37,740 cost was completely covered by money raised by the campaign..“As a former Calgary City Councillor, I recognize that the integrity of our elections financing laws are paramount to our democracy,” Joe Connelly wrote to Glen Resler, Chief Electoral Officer..“Recently, I learned that Jyoti Gondek, a declared candidate for mayor, engaged a Political Action Committee (a third party PAC) to develop, print, and mail a campaign brochure to substantially all of the City of Calgary.. Joe-ConnellyJoe Connelly .“This appears to be a direct violation of s. 166 of the Local Authorities Elections Act (Alberta) which reads as follows:.“166(1) A registered third party shall not circumvent, or attempt to circumvent, a contribution limit or an expense limit set out in Part 5.1 or an expense limit set out in this Part by colluding with a candidate..“(2) A candidate shall not collude with a third party to circumvent, or attempt to circumvent, a contribution limit or an expense limit set out in Part 5.1 or an expense limit set out in this Part..“I would ask that this be investigated, the appropriate fines be levied, and the results made public.”.A campaign official for Gondek, Stephen Carter, told the Western Standard that Connelly’s allegation was completely without basis..“The entire cost was paid for using campaign funds. Where’s (Connelly’s) evidence? Is it just made up?” he said..After serving one term as alderman, Connelly ran for mayor in a 2010 race Naheed Nenshi won. .“Maybe he’s upset because he just got one per cent (of the vote) in 2010,” Carter said..In an interview, Connelly said he filed a complaint because the pamphlet “didn’t pass the smell test.”.He said several things raised his concerns..“If you look at the pamphlet, it’s gorgeous, very professionally done and very expensive,” said Connelly, adding it would have been extremely difficult to raise money in these economic times..He also questioned the timing of the mail-out being so far ahead of the October 18 election. Connelly said election funding laws have recently been tightened making it more difficult to raise money..“To have raised this amount of money so far just doesn’t make sense,” he said. Unfortunately, the pamphlet did contain a typo with “Time” being spelled as “Tme.”. Screen-Shot-2021-02-23-at-1.01.44-PMPamphlet typo .The allegations have not been proven..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter.com/nobby7694
