Special prosecutor to aid probe into United Conservative leadership vote
Posted July 3, 2019 11:25 am.
Last Updated July 3, 2019 11:39 am.
EDMONTON – The Alberta government says a special out-of-province prosecutor will assist in a criminal fraud investigation into the United Conservative Party leadership race won by Jason Kenney before he became premier.
Eric Tolppanen, head of the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, says an agreement is in place to get help from an Ontario prosecutor.
The prosecutor’s name has not been released.
READ MORE: Former UCP member lashes out at Jason Kenney and the kamikaze candidate scandal
The Crown announced in May that it was seeking an out-of-province prosecutor.
Tolppanen says the agreement with the Ontario lawyer was struck immediately afterwards.
The latest on the appointment of an out-of-province Crown prosecutor probing the UCP leadership race, courtesy of the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service. #ableg #yeg #yyc pic.twitter.com/PV0NDJIUdT
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) July 3, 2019
The Opposition NDP, which initially pushed for a special prosecutor, has in recent days been demanding that Kenney’s government confirm whether someone had been hired.
Tolppanen stresses that the decision was made independent of elected officials.
The RCMP has been investigating whether voter identity fraud was committed in the 2017 UCP leadership race, which Kenny won handily.
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