The Strategists weigh in on alleged 'secret' NDP Calgary office
Tricia Lo | CBC News | Posted: March 11, 2016 1:44 AM | Last Updated: March 11, 2016
Wildrose are taking advantage of public's lack of knowledge about caucus politics, The Strategists say
There's nothing fishy about the NDP office recently established in northeast Calgary, but the Wildrose Opposition is doing a good job of casting doubt, say some political experts.
The Wildrose Party has accused the NDP of using taxpayers' money to fund a secret campaign office in the run up to the Calgary-Greenway byelection.
Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman has denied those allegations and accused the opposition of making up scandals, adding that the caucus outreach office is meant to assist MLAs.
"It's not a secret office," said Stephen Carter, one of The Strategists.
"When you're running a campaign, you want people to go to the office. You don't put secret offices just outside a jurisdiction so that you can manage a campaign from it. That's ridiculous," he said.
"Either the Wildrose doesn't know this, or they're ignoring it, and I don't know which one is more damning on the Wildrose," Carter said.
"Seriously, we deserve a better opposition than these guys are giving us."
Zain Velji credited the Wildrose for capitalizing on the perception of foul play.
"The perception is, we are in a byelection, the NDP have a Calgary problem, and they've now put out an office that looks political in nature," Velji said.
"People at home do not have the depth of understanding, nor are they weird like us, to know that a campaign office is not in an industrial park in northeast Calgary," he said.
"Welcome to politics."