>The provincial agency alleges that the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) breached third-party advertising laws by paying for public messaging in excess of the province’s $1,000 limit for non-registered groups, according to court records obtained by The Globe and Mail.
>Since early January, lawyers for APP have rebuffed efforts by the elections agency to dig into the organization’s finances. Elections Alberta in mid-March filed its injunction application that would compel the group to register as a third-party advertiser and disclose its donors and expenses.
>Since the beginning of the year, however, the once highly active Prosperity Project has ceased almost all activities.
>In its place, Mr. Rath and Mr. Sylvestre have built a new group called Stay Free Alberta to champion the effort toward collecting the nearly 178,000 signatures required to force an independence referendum. If current legal challenges to the petition fail, Alberta is likely to hold an independence vote on Oct. 19.
>Mr. Rath argues that the Prosperity Project’s hiatus means it does not qualify as a third-party advertiser and its financials and donor list should be off limits.
>The Prosperity Project is governed by the Alberta Prosperity Society, which registered as a non-profit in 2022, according to corporate records.
>Little is known about the financial support it has received. According to financial information in the corporate registry, the Prosperity Society received more than $1-million in donations in 2022 and $103,000 in donations in 2023.
>Its statements of operation for the following years aren’t publicly available.On Feb. 2, the Prosperity Project was asked to produce all online contributions received through its donations webpage from Jan. 2 to Jan. 31, expenses and invoices for town halls over that period, and receipts for advertising about an Alberta independence referendum.
>The group did not meet the Feb. 17 deadline.
>Instead, on that day, Mr. Rath wrote a letter to Election Commissioner Paula Hale outlining why he believed the Prosperity Project wasn’t required to register as a third-party advertiser. Mr. Rath described the group as “a loose affiliation of individuals” and denied the existence of the Prosperity Project’s donation portal because it “is not a legal entity.”
>Ms. Hale replied eight days later on Feb. 25. In a four-page letter, she rebuked several of his arguments.
>“At best, your response to date has been misinformed; at worst, it has been obstructive,” Ms. Hale wrote. She set a new deadline for March 12.
>Mr. Rath replied again on deadline day, where he challenged Elections Alberta’s evidence and accused it of “baseless accusations.”
>Joseph Redman, counsel for Elections Alberta, replied the following day, on March 13, responding to each of Mr. Rath’s concerns. He wrote that Ms. Hale’s order “is not an invitation for discussion; it is a legal demand.”Mr. Redman filed an injunction application that day ordering the Prosperity Project to turn over its financials.
All public election campaigns and candidates finances should be publicly disclosed, by default.
okiioppai on
Now this is going to get interesting. Possibly threat of higher tariff is incoming?
JadeLens on
I, for one, have my popcorn ready for this one.
It would appear that if they’re fighting this so hard that there’s some juicy bits of information in there that Rath doesn’t want in the public eye as it will discredit his movement.
Vyvyan_180 on
Ah, good ol’ “foreign interference” when it’s any cause that isn’t advocated for by progressivism; and “grassroots funding” when it’s international NGOs in “public partnerships” advocating for radical social and legal policy changes informed by a particular ideological perspective that has never been presented to the voting public for scrutiny.
I’m no fan or any sort of separatism, but fuck me if this determination isn’t being applied for ideological expediency.
crakkerzz on
Just like Alberta Tories, they are mostly funded by Americans dropping stock tips.
The Tories have Corruption to so they of course have way more.
10 Comments
>The provincial agency alleges that the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) breached third-party advertising laws by paying for public messaging in excess of the province’s $1,000 limit for non-registered groups, according to court records obtained by The Globe and Mail.
>Since early January, lawyers for APP have rebuffed efforts by the elections agency to dig into the organization’s finances. Elections Alberta in mid-March filed its injunction application that would compel the group to register as a third-party advertiser and disclose its donors and expenses.
>Since the beginning of the year, however, the once highly active Prosperity Project has ceased almost all activities.
>In its place, Mr. Rath and Mr. Sylvestre have built a new group called Stay Free Alberta to champion the effort toward collecting the nearly 178,000 signatures required to force an independence referendum. If current legal challenges to the petition fail, Alberta is likely to hold an independence vote on Oct. 19.
>Mr. Rath argues that the Prosperity Project’s hiatus means it does not qualify as a third-party advertiser and its financials and donor list should be off limits.
>The Prosperity Project is governed by the Alberta Prosperity Society, which registered as a non-profit in 2022, according to corporate records.
>Little is known about the financial support it has received. According to financial information in the corporate registry, the Prosperity Society received more than $1-million in donations in 2022 and $103,000 in donations in 2023.
>Its statements of operation for the following years aren’t publicly available.On Feb. 2, the Prosperity Project was asked to produce all online contributions received through its donations webpage from Jan. 2 to Jan. 31, expenses and invoices for town halls over that period, and receipts for advertising about an Alberta independence referendum.
>The group did not meet the Feb. 17 deadline.
>Instead, on that day, Mr. Rath wrote a letter to Election Commissioner Paula Hale outlining why he believed the Prosperity Project wasn’t required to register as a third-party advertiser. Mr. Rath described the group as “a loose affiliation of individuals” and denied the existence of the Prosperity Project’s donation portal because it “is not a legal entity.”
>Ms. Hale replied eight days later on Feb. 25. In a four-page letter, she rebuked several of his arguments.
>“At best, your response to date has been misinformed; at worst, it has been obstructive,” Ms. Hale wrote. She set a new deadline for March 12.
>Mr. Rath replied again on deadline day, where he challenged Elections Alberta’s evidence and accused it of “baseless accusations.”
>Joseph Redman, counsel for Elections Alberta, replied the following day, on March 13, responding to each of Mr. Rath’s concerns. He wrote that Ms. Hale’s order “is not an invitation for discussion; it is a legal demand.”Mr. Redman filed an injunction application that day ordering the Prosperity Project to turn over its financials.
Paywall: [https://archive.is/L1N0r](https://archive.is/L1N0r)
All public election campaigns and candidates finances should be publicly disclosed, by default.
Now this is going to get interesting. Possibly threat of higher tariff is incoming?
I, for one, have my popcorn ready for this one.
It would appear that if they’re fighting this so hard that there’s some juicy bits of information in there that Rath doesn’t want in the public eye as it will discredit his movement.
Ah, good ol’ “foreign interference” when it’s any cause that isn’t advocated for by progressivism; and “grassroots funding” when it’s international NGOs in “public partnerships” advocating for radical social and legal policy changes informed by a particular ideological perspective that has never been presented to the voting public for scrutiny.
I’m no fan or any sort of separatism, but fuck me if this determination isn’t being applied for ideological expediency.
Just like Alberta Tories, they are mostly funded by Americans dropping stock tips.
The Tories have Corruption to so they of course have way more.
Yes!!
Traitors with American money.
Good. Traitors.
This could be hilarious