WHISSELL: Is Alberta’s voter data panic about privacy — or crushing the independence movement?

It’s hard to look objectively at the CV of former Alberta premier Jason Kenney and not conclude that the guy had a successful political career. What’s surprising, however, is that despite Kenney’s political success, he’s twice found himself smack in the middle of investigations into voter identity theft.The first time, in 2017, he was the accused.This time, he’s the victim.It gets weirder. But rather than conspiratorially connecting these two independent events, we see that one sets a kind of precedent for the other.A first set of investigations by the RCMP and Elections Alberta, with Kenney at the center of them, began in 2017. They followed accusations by Prab Gill that Kenney’s campaign created fraudulent online ballots during the 2017 UCP leadership election. Kenney was also accused by his main rival, UCP leadership candidate Brian Jean, of using a “kamikaze candidate,” Jeff Callaway, to sap votes. While Kenney won the leadership election by a wide margin, his victory was tainted.A second set of investigations by the RCMP and Elections Alberta, with Kenney at the center of them, began at the end of April 2026. They follow accusations that The Centurion Project (TCP), a pro-independence organization led by activist Doug Parker, accessed voter information illegally obtained from the Republican Party of Alberta. From the List of Electors, TCP allegedly used Jason Kenney’s personal information as sample data to demonstrate the use of a voter app they created..Kenney has somehow found himself in the center of yet another voter information scandal, investigated by both the RCMP and Elections Alberta, some 9 years after his first one. The big question: Will we see the same standards applied to the investigation of Doug Parker and TCP as those used while Kenney was investigated?It’s also ironic because the RCMP’s investigation into the 2017 scandal was only completed in March 2024, and no charges were laid. This conclusion, despite the RCMP finding almost 200 fraudulent ballots, which they deemed “insufficient evidence” of any criminal wrongdoing in the 2017 leadership election. Jeff Callaway, however, Kenney’s “kamikaze candidate,” was fined $70,000 for using straw donors to exceed annual donation limits. A leaked cache of UCP emails also revealed that Callaway collaborated with Kenney to undermine Brian Jean. The 2026 voter data breach turns things upside down. Kenney is now (apparently) a victim.He allegedly had his illegally obtained personal information exposed by TCP and believes there’s now an increased risk to his personal safety. During an interview on CBC’s Power & Politics, Kenney said that he’s considering a civil suit that might include seeking damages for the now elevated cost of his private security.“There’s no doubt they chose my name very deliberately,” Kenney told CBC’s David Cochrane. “To share my personal information with that particular crowd, I think, almost constitutes a kind of incitement.”More than anything, what’s unusual about Alberta’s 2026 voter data breach is the timing of it all. With an independence movement going full steam after obtaining over 300,000 signatures and a referendum fast approaching, Kenney has suddenly been thrust from obscurity into the limelight. He’s quickly conducted several interviews and appearances defaming the independence movement..During his CBC interview, he connected independence supporters to the “anti-vaxxers” who helped oust him during the 2022 UCP leadership review and who he claims have made threats against him. He’s trying his hardest to make the movement for Alberta independence look criminal.But Kenney may be jumping the gun.First and foremost, Alberta’s Elections Act was significantly overhauled in 2025. Those changes made Elections Alberta question the tip they received from Calgary-based journalist Jen Gershon, insisting that there was a voter data breach by TCP. Kenney himself admitted on CBC that he “can’t pretend to know the law on this in a very nuanced way.”What Kenney must know from being investigated by the RCMP, however, is that any investigation into a data breach is going to take years to complete. Considering the 23 individuals believed to have obtained a complete copy of the List of Electors and the over 500 individuals Elections Alberta has sent cease-and-desist letters to, that’s going to take some time. The RCMP took seven years to investigate a list containing fewer than 60,000 voters. How long will an investigation take for Alberta’s list of almost three million?For their part, Elections Alberta needs to explain why it suddenly changed its mind on investigating the tip it received. Its current public statement on the data breach doesn’t do that but instead explains, “Elections Alberta is prohibited by law from commenting on any complaint or investigation that may or may not be happening.”Curiously enough, that’s not stopping it from fearmongering. Gordon McClure, Chief Electoral Officer for Elections Alberta, has publicly stated, “People are unhappy, scared, and anxious about the situation. We have heard countless stories about the risks people face having their information made public, including stories from domestic violence survivors, law enforcement, marginalized communities, and more.”.In a similar fashion, Kenney is running with accusations, whinging, and crabbing to all the media that will listen to him. He’s used this unique opportunity to further demonize the Alberta independence movement. If there wasn’t that serious cause for him to publicly defame, he’d likely be considering his lawsuit somewhere off camera, like a normal person.The RCMP has effectively avoided being unable to comment on the situation because retired RCMP officers, like Patrick Lennox, are offering their opinions on various mainstream media sites. “Our data is in the wind, and that is a terrifying prospect,” Lennox, former manager of criminal intelligence for the RCMP, told CBC. Lennox then delved further into fearmongering. “I think any authoritarian regime that is looking to undermine liberal democracies would be very interested in this type of data, because it enables them to communicate directly with citizens in a province that is about to have a separatist referendum.”This type of after-the-fact opinion promoting fear is not helpful. It solves nothing.Why are Kenney and Elections Alberta also fearmongering?The public, sadly, is left with three actors running an altered version of the play from 2017: Jason Kenney, Elections Alberta, and the RCMP.Let’s hope the coincidences end there.Let’s ask the three of them to be honest and patient. They should hold off on conjecture and fearmongering. They should deal with the legal issues quietly, as was done for Kenney, for the time necessary for a full investigation.Until a proper investigation is completed, the only purpose I can see for all this fearmongering is to discredit the Alberta independence movement.

WHISSELL: Is Alberta’s voter data panic about privacy — or crushing the independence movement?

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