The founder of a political action group being probed by Alberta’s election regulator is planning a protest at Elections Alberta’s headquarters.
David Parker, who runs Take Back Alberta, is planning a protest Friday afternoon when he’s been summoned for an interview with the office of Alberta’s chief electoral officer.
The investigation into Take Back Alberta began months ago, prompting Parker to declare an “endless war” on Elections Alberta.
The non-partisan office responsible for administering provincial elections, byelections, and referenda “subpoenaed” Parker just over a week ago, Parker said.
While Elections Alberta has the authority to issue summonses, Parker’s appearance will not be under oath as it is not a legal proceeding.
Parker said that he has been “running them around a little bit,” making Elections Alberta desperate to conclude the investigation “because I’m upping the pressure every day now.”
Parker expects 500 people to join him at the Take Back Alberta protest outside the offices of Elections Alberta, slated for Friday between noon and 3 pm.
“There’s a lot of people that are very angry about this,” said Parker.
Elections Alberta said it is unable to comment on potential allegations or ongoing investigations.
The organization said that investigating any potential breach of the Elections Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act is within the authority of the Election Commissioner.
In response to the protest, Elections Alberta said the safety of its staff is “paramount.”
“As a precaution, we will be restricting access to the Elections Alberta office on Friday, March 22, to visitors with pre-existing appointments only,” said Robyn Bell, a spokesperson for Elections Alberta.
Multiple people, including Parker, are expected to give speeches at the protest. First in line is Parker, who intends to speak before his interview around 12:30 pm. He also said he’ll be releasing a recording of his interview.
In a post to X last Friday, which had garnered 100,000 views by Wednesday, Parker said that the subpoena was issued with demands that he release the entire list of donors to Take Back Alberta. He argues this request violates the Elections Act, as the donations were not for political advertising.
“I will not be releasing the names of our donors so they can be harassed by left wing activists,” wrote Parker.
Parker said that Elections Alberta has hired multiple investigators to determine whether Take Back Alberta has violated election laws. He added that he has been cooperative and feels he has done nothing wrong.
Elections Alberta allegedly accused Parker and Take Back Alberta of election advertising during its town hall meetings. He defended these meetings, saying he tells stories about his life and has people get up to talk about their reasoning for being involved in politics.
Meanwhile, Parker said that he is aware of over 50 complaints submitted to Elections Alberta about collusion between the Alberta NDP and unions, which he added the organization refuses to investigate.
There is a double standard between how Take Back Alberta and Alberta teacher unions are treated, given unions have NDP literature in their meeting rooms and the Alberta Teachers’ Association actively campaigned against the United Conservative Party, according to Parker.
He said concerns raised about the unions have fallen on deaf ears.
“They are investigating Take Back Alberta for simply teaching people how their democracy works and encouraging people to get involved in their democracy,” said Parker.
“It’s not even an attack on me. It’s an attack on our democracy.”
He added that the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, Gil McGowan, is running to be the Alberta NDP’s leader while remaining the federation’s president. McGowan is sending emails out to the Alberta Federation of Labour about what he’s doing, which is a bigger violation than anything Take Back Alberta has done, said Parker, adding that Elections Alberta is not investigating this matter.
The left-wing bias within Elections Alberta results from the fact that most people currently employed there were hired under former Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley, according to Parker.
Editor’s note: David Parker is married to a True North journalist, who did not contribute to this story.