The United Conservative Party (UCP) violated its privacy bylaw by sharing membership lists with people who shouldn’t be privy to them, said a former board director..“It appears that government-paid employees in MLAs’ offices have access to membership lists, which is against the policies of the UCP,” said Cathy Smith, a former Southern Alberta director, who also served as party secretary and worked on UCP bylaws..“There are strict rules around the membership list. This is outrageous.”.Smith was alerted to the privacy breach by emails she received from Premier Jason Kenney’s Calgary-Lougheed constituency office. .“Look at the boldness of them using their office. That’s unbelievable. This is how dumb they think we are,” Smith told the Western Standard..UCP Executive Director Dustin van Vugt is the one person allowed access to all lists. Constituency association (CA) presidents and membership vice-presidents may only have lists of their own members.. SLOBODIAN: Former UCP exec alleges misuse of membership listsCathy Smith .However, Smith who lives in Calgary-Elbow, MLA Doug Schweitzer’s constituency, received an April 29 email from Camrose MLA, Jackie Lovely..It was sent from the Calgary-Lougheed UCP email address..“The UCP leadership review vote is right around the corner and we have not yet received confirmation from you that you have mailed your ballot for the UCP leadership review,” read Lovely’s email..She appealed for “every vote” to “make sure Jason has a big mandate to lead us into the next election to defeat the NDP.”.Smith replied that she couriered her ballot to Deloitte Canada..On April 30, she received another email from an unidentified Calgary-Lougheed staffer..It read: “The ballots go directly to Deloitte office and are held in their secure space until the count on May 18 when the auditor will oversee the count. The only way we know if someone has voted is if they tell us they submitted it already.”.Replied Smith on May 1: “Really, the only way you know? Well, since I do not live in your constituency why would you know anything about my membership? Having been a membership VP, the only list I had access to was my own constituency and definitely [not] anything other than contact information, or active or lapsed. I am very concerned about what is going on here.” .So far, no reply..“I am a member of Calgary Elbow. So only the [CA] President Tom Kent should have access to my information, as well as the membership VP if they have one. And Dustin van Vugt. That’s it. Not Jackie Lovely, not any other MLA, and certainly not staff in their government offices,” said Smith..Section 4.11. of the bylaw states: The Executive Director of the Party will maintain the confidentiality of Member information through the requirement of the completion of a non-disclosure agreement before any individual (including but not limited to Party employees, Candidates, CA Board members) is granted access to any membership information. At the Constituency Association level the CA Board President is responsible for ensuring non-disclosure agreements are completed by any CA Member granted access to confidential Member information..“First of all, why is the president of the CA not sending out a message?” said Smith, referring to Kent..“Why are MLAs elected to represent all citizens, not just UCP members, sending emails from their government offices paid for by the taxpayer? Why should Jackie Lovely have my email address to ask me if I’ve voted yet?”.“Only the executive director has full access, and with special permission, the VP membership of a CA and the CA president are given access to their own CA list, not the whole list.”.Smith isn’t ready to point a finger at van Vugt..“In fairness to Dustin van Vugt, he’s in a tough situation because as the executive director he’s responsible to the membership. Dustin’s in this precarious situation with the leadership review, a change from in-person to this mail-in ballot thing. He’s got to be careful. He’s of good character.”.“The leader is the leader. Anybody he doesn’t like could be gone. I think the leader of the party — but he’s also the premier — is telling UCP MLAs to email the members and ask them if they’ve voted yet, or remind them to vote.”.The premier’s office is “toxic,” said Smith echoing a popular claim. .“They’re ruthless right now. That’s because there’s a lot of boys in short pants in there that don’t know anything. They brought them all from Ottawa. They don’t even know Albertans. You’ve got to know the people. They don’t care.”.Smith served as Southern Alberta director in 2018, then moved to Calgary and was elected to serve as UCP secretary. She resigned in disgust from the board in 2021..“I know everything that goes on, and what isn’t supposed to go on. I was involved for 40 years with the Conservative party, the PCs. I was president of the CA in Cypress-Medicine Hat. I was the treasurer. I was the secretary.”.She sold memberships for Kenney when he ran for the leadership in 2017..She has watched in disbelief how it went from “so much hope for the province” to the state it is in..“So, all this blue truck driving around and talking to people when he was running for the leadership, poor so-and-so at the gas station, he’s afraid for his future and all of this. Fake from the beginning.”.Kenney promised transparency and grassroots governing “is a joke.”.Right now, the grassroots should be concerned about their privacy not being protected, said Smith..“People want to have someone they can trust. They want to be able to say: ‘If I’m a member of the party, that what they say about my identity, about my personal information is confidential, and that it’s not shared with anyone who shouldn’t have it.’”.The party denied Smith’s allegations..“The Party takes confidentiality of membership information seriously and only discloses that information in accordance with our Rules and as required by law,” said UCP spokeman Dave Prisco on Monday..“The Party Board has passed Rules for the Special General Meeting that allow for membership information to be shared with constituency association presidents in a way that protects the confidentiality of this information while ensuring transparency and integrity in the leadership review process.” . “The leader’s constituency association in Calgary-Lougheed has undertaken to support his efforts to win the leadership review vote, which they are entitled to do. The leader is entitled to share the membership information with his constituency association to communicate with members in respect of the leadership review so long as the information is not retained, copied, or distributed after the SGM has concluded.”. “No one knows who has voted. The email was worded saying they don’t have confirmation from the member of them having voted.”.Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard.lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com
