Alberta NDP dismisses Wildrose allegations about 'secret' office
Michelle Bellefontaine | CBC News | Posted: March 10, 2016 8:46 PM | Last Updated: March 10, 2016
Wildrose alleges government office in northeast Calgary used to support byelection campaign
The Wildrose is alleging the NDP is operating a taxpayer-funded, secret office in northeast Calgary to support campaign efforts in the Calgary-Greenway byelection.
The office doesn't appear to be open to the public and it's unclear what work is happening inside, said Jason Nixon, the accountability critic for the Wildrose.
Two people work in the office: Robert Scobel, manager of outreach services, and Leslie Cramer, an outreach officer.
They are listed as legislative assembly employees on an internal government directory. Scobel is a former NDP candidate; Cramer worked for Lead Now, an advocacy organization.
"Given the fact these two appear to have no contact with the general public I am left to assume that they are a hyper-political, secret wing of the government that is attempting to win the NDP the Calgary Greenway byelection," Nixon said.
When he asked about the office during a recent meeting of the legislature's all-party members services committee, Nixon said NDP MLAs wouldn't acknowledge it existed.
Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman denies the NDP is operating a secret campaign office using taxpayer funds and accused the Wildrose of making up scandals.
She said the office has no connection to the Calgary-Greenway beylection. Scobel and Cramer are employed by the NDP caucus to work with constituents and NDP MLAs in Calgary, she said.
She said the office is listed on the NDP caucus website and there's a sign outside.
"This office was something that was in progress, it opened a few months ago," she said. "It's something that we're really proud to have and we think that it's important to have outreach in Calgary and to have people supporting the MLAs doing that work."
Premier Rachel Notley has outreach staff at the McDougall Centre. Hoffman says it would be inappropriate to have caucus staff working at a government office.
The Calgary office will be permanent. The government plans to release information on how much the office costs.