Progress Alberta Executive Director Duncan Kinney — charged this week with allegedly vandalizing a Ukrainian statue in Edmonton — has not been fired or forced to take a leave of absence from his positions with several far-left organizations in Canada. .Kinney founded Progress Alberta in 2016. The primary role of this organization is running far-left media outlet the Progress Report. .READ MORE: Alberta far left-wing journalist charged for alleged vandalism of Ukrainian statue.It is alleged Kinney defaced the Roman Shukhevych statue by tagging it with "Actual Nazi" in red spray paint. .Edmonton police said he faces one count of mischief under $5,000 in connection to the incident in 2021. Kinney then wrote about that very incident in the Progress Report, using photos he said he obtained..The allegations have not been proven in court. .Kinney has also worked as a columnist at CBC. His columns have not been removed from CBC as of Friday. .The Progress Report said it seeks “to promote the interests of workers, marginalized communities, and people struggling against the injustices of racism, capitalism, and colonialism.”.“We strive to live up to the fundamental ideals of good journalism — honesty, transparency, and professionalism,” it said. .Although not yet proven in court, committing a crime and reporting on it as an exclusive story would generally be considered a violation of "good journalism" practices by most journalism schools and professional associations. .Progress Alberta and the Progress Report declined to answer questions from the Western Standard as to if he is still employed as executive director and editor following the charges. .The current board of directors for Progress Alberta consists of Duncan Kinney, Jim Storrie, and Abdul Malik. The Progress Report is an employee-run, non-profit, with the majority of the board of directors being employees. .The Progress Report said it's an independent organization and has no formal relationship with the Alberta NDP. Its values sometimes align, but it said its politics are "far to the left of the Alberta NDP." .While not officially affiliated, some individuals involved with Progress Alberta maintain personal connections with the Alberta NDP. .Asked for comment, the Alberta NDP strongly denied any connections to Kinney and threatened to sue the Western Standard. ."Duncan Kinney doesn't work for the Alberta NDP. The Alberta NDP has never sent a dollar to Duncan Kinney or Progress Alberta. If the Western Standard chooses to print incorrect information about this, we will take aggressive legal action to correct the record.".Progress Alberta used to receive funding through its third party advertiser status. Third parties have to register during elections because of campaign finance laws. .A contributions report from Elections Alberta in 2019 shows the advocacy group took $6,500 in union donations. It received $5,000 in donations from Unifor, and it took $1,500 from CUPE Local 37..A contribution statement from Elections Canada in 2015 reveals Kinney donated $249 to the Edmonton Griesbach Federal NDP Electoral District Association. .Kinney is a Fellow of the Broadbent Institute, serving in a volunteer role on campaigns. The Broadbent Institute is a left-wing think-tank founded by former federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent. .The Broadbent Institute refused to directly answer questions from the Western Standard as to if Kinney had been removed as a fellow of their organization. .Broadbent Executive Director Jen Hassum said, "Our fellows are a diverse, multidisciplinary group of scholars, policy experts and civil society leaders who provide advice and expertise on various projects." ."These are volunteer roles and we have no employment relationship with them." .The Broadbent Institute calls Kinney “an experienced campaigner, researcher and storyteller and has broken numerous stories in the environmental and social justice fields.”.“He has had a(n) up close, first-hand view of the great conservative freakout in Alberta as this former bastion of conservatism lost both the provincial legislature and the Prime Minister's Office in 2015,” said the Broadbent Institute.
