Alberta government keeping eye on investigations into voter info breach

Premier Danielle Smith says her government is taking a data breach affecting Alberta voters’ information very seriously. But at the moment, she says she is awaiting the outcome of investigations from police and Elections Alberta. 

“If a breach has been discovered, then we hope that those who are responsible are held accountable to the full extent of the law,” Smith said during Monday’s question period. 

“It is very serious and we are encouraged by the fact that the EPS (Edmonton Police Service), RCMP and Elections Alberta are investigating.”

Smith’s appearance in the legislature on Monday marked the first time she addressed the voter database issue beyond a statement posted to social media on Friday. Smith was travelling out of province last week.

Last week, millions of Albertans learned personal information like their full names, addresses and contact information were made available in a searchable database posted by separatist group the Centurion Project. 

The list was legally obtained from Elections Alberta by the Alberta Republican Party. However that information is not to be shared with third parties, and it remains unclear how it ended up in the hands of the Centurion Project. 

Justice Minister Mickey Amery told reporters that his government still has unanswered questions. 

Amery said he wants to know what prompted Elections Alberta to dismiss a complaint journalist Jen Gerson said she made on March 31 after she received a tip from a source about the electors’ database. The independent agency decided to take action after getting another complaint a week ago. 

“I think what Albertans want to know is what happened between April 10 and April 28, and that’s what we’re waiting to find out,” Amery said.  

“We know that these details are surfacing. More details are coming out every day and we’ll assess our position and what we need to do.” 

Elections Alberta said it didn’t act on Gerson’s complaint because the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act — passed last year — placed a higher bar on what the agency needs in order to start an investigation from “grounds to warrant” to “reasonable grounds.”

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi pressed Smith in Monday’s question period on why she isn’t treating the breach “like the emergency that it is.” 

“All we’ve had from the government is a 74-word statement,” he said. “It can [be] summarized into not our fault, nothing to see here.”

At a news conference later on Monday afternoon, Nenshi said the NDP first stumbled upon the Centurion Project database a little over two weeks ago. He said the discovery prompted the party to notify the RCMP on April 17. 

The RCMP said on Monday that they started acting on the letter on April 20. They reviewed the information and then started an active investigation on April 30. 

On Monday afternoon, David Parker of the Centurion Project posted on social media that he is aware of “the media reporting and the materials filed by Elections Alberta” regarding the organization.

“The allegations that I personally received or distributed any unauthorized voter data are false,” he wrote in a post on X.

“These issues involve active court proceedings and investigations. I will not be commenting further on the operations of the Centurion Project or the media speculation. We will let the legal process unfold.”

Nenshi is calling for chief electoral officer Gordon McClure to answer questions on the data breach at an emergency meeting of the standing committee of legislative offices. 

He said he wants the government to ensure Elections Alberta has the supports it needs to properly verify signatures on petitions, and for it to reverse provisions in Bill 54 that he said weakened the agency’s ability to investigate elections infractions.