Jeffrey Park appeals $10,500 fines tied to UCP 'kamikaze' leadership campaign investigation

Jeffrey Park is appealing the $10,500 penalty levied against him by the Alberta Election Commissioner for irregular contributions to Jeff Callaway's campaign during the 2017 UCP leadership race.

Park, who was Callaway's executive assistant during the campaign, was fined a total of $10,500  on April 25 for contributing money that was "given or furnished by another person," and for providing funds to his wife, Michelle, who then donated to the campaign.

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Park is now appealing those fines, claiming that there was bias against him, and that the election commissioner "incorrectly and unreasonably found" that the money that Park and his wife contributed to Callaway's campaign was not their own money. 

In its ongoing investigation of the campaign, the election commissioner determined that a corporation controlled by Calgary businessman Robyn Lore donated $60,000 to the Callaway campaign through his communications manager, Cam Davies.

It's alleged that money was distributed to individuals like Park, who then donated it to the campaign in order to make it look legitimate.

Corporations are barred from making political donations.

$10K a signing bonus, according to appeal

In his notice of appeal, Park states that the $10,000 electronic bank transfer he received from Cam Davies on Sept. 11, 2017 was a "signing bonus" owed to him as a result of his newfound full-time employment with the Callaway campaign.

Park says he negotiated that signing bonus with Randy Kerr, Callaway's campaign manager, after Park was recruited to work on the campaign by Lenore Eaton of Energize Alberta in August of that year.

According to Park's appeal documents, Park was approached by Cam Davies in on Sept. 8, when Davies asked if Park and his wife would each donate $4,000 to the campaign. The campaign needed to quickly raise $57,000 to cover the $75,000 UCP leadership race fee, or Callaway's bid would come to an end.

The documents say Park did not want the campaign to discontinue, and he told Davies that he and his wife would each donate $3,500 once he was paid his signing bonus.

Park was "unconcerned" that the $10,000 payment came from Davies and not from Energize Alberta, which he had originally invoiced at the request of Eaton on Sept. 1, according to the notice of appeal.

Remedies sought

Park wants the $10,500 in fines to be quashed by the court.

If, however, the court finds that Park did break election finance laws, Park is appealing the amount of the fines, claiming the total is "excessively high and disproportionate." 

In total, five individuals have been fined a total of $34,000 for irregular contributions to the campaign.

In addition, documents obtained by CBC News show Callaway and his former CFO, Lenore Eaton, are each facing the prospect of a $50,000 fine or two years in prison for "corrupt practices" in breach of the Elections Act.

Callaway has also been ordered by the election commissioner to repay $26,500 in donations, according to documents revealed in a court battle against the investigation, but that fine has not been officially posted on the commissioner's website.

Kamikaze' campaign

Callaway is accused of running a "kamikaze" campaign in 2017 on behalf of current premier-designate Jason Kenney, who won the party leadership on Oct. 28, 2017.

It's alleged he ran for the sole purpose of targeting Kenney's chief rival, former Wildrose leader Brian Jean, and then dropping out of the race to support Kenney.

Both men deny the allegations, but CBC News has obtained emails showing higher-ups in Kenney's campaign circle providing resources — strategic political direction, media, and debate talking points, speeches, videos and attack advertisements — to the Callaway campaign.

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There was a timeline for when Callaway would drop out of the campaign and throw his support behind Kenney.

Kenney's deputy chief of staff, Matt Wolf, even emailed a resignation speech to Callaway the day he dropped out of the leadership race.

It's just one aspect of a troubled leadership race, which is being investigated by the RCMP.

CBC News has previously revealed voter fraud took place in the contest and confirmed a recent raid by the RCMP on a business owned by incoming Calgary-East MLA Peter Singh was tied to their separate investigation into voter fraud.