{"id":642147,"date":"2026-05-02T02:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T02:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/642147\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T02:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T02:55:13","slug":"albertans-question-timeline-of-alleged-voter-list-leak-call-for-election-law-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/642147\/","title":{"rendered":"Albertans question timeline of alleged voter list leak, call for election law changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elections Alberta is being criticized for not acting sooner on claims a separatist group breached the personal information of nearly three million Albertans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The agency said The Republican Party of Alberta\u2019s copy of the list of electors was given to The Centurion Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elections Alberta<\/a> said it\u00a0started looking into the issue on Monday, April 27.<\/p>\n

But a Calgary-based journalist and political commentator says she raised concerns weeks ago, only to have Elections Alberta allegedly decline to investigate.<\/p>\n

Jen Gerson published an article with supporting documentation saying she raised the alarm on the database last month.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey started their timeline April 27, and I think that just made me very angry because I know very well that that timeline is not correct,\u201d Gerson said in an interview with Global News on Friday<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey had \u201ccompelling evidence\u201d that there was inappropriate use \u2014 at least potentially inappropriate use of the data files \u2014 as early as March 31.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Gerson said she submitted a tip to Elections Alberta, expressing concerns with The Centurion Project\u2019s website that contained a publicly accessible database.<\/p>\n

The project is led by long-time political organizer David Parker, who has said the goal is to recruit and identify those who support the idea of Alberta separating from Canada ahead of a potential fall referendum.<\/p>\n

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The group planned to use the searchable database of names, addresses and electoral districts from the last provincial election to achieve that goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven this had, potentially, millions of sensitive individual\u2019s personal home addresses on it, I thought it would be far more prudent to report it to Elections Alberta,\u201d Gerson said.<\/p>\n

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In her article, Gerson shared an April 10 letter from Alberta\u2019s election commissioner Paula Hale, saying the agency determined the evidence was \u201ccompelling\u201d but fell short of clearly coming from a voter list and, therefore, declined to investigate further.<\/p>\n

Gerson criticized the response in her article, saying the agency shouldn\u2019t have called off the investigation with an alleged privacy breach at stake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone issues them a complaint, the next step ought to be that they investigate the complaint to find out whether or not, there are \u2018reasonable grounds\u2019 that a crime\u2019s been committed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elections Alberta is, by law, not allowed to discuss or even confirm investigations \u2014 but said in this case it went public because the threat to citizens warranted it.<\/p>\n

Michelle Gurney, a spokesperson for Elections Alberta, said in an email the agency must adhere to a high standard of evidence to begin an investigation \u2014 a standard similar to the amount of evidence police need to make arrests.<\/p>\n

Election officials also said legislative changes last year stopped it from acting sooner.<\/p>\n

The higher threshold was added to legislation under Bill 54 last summer by Premier Danielle Smith\u2019s government, and Gurney said it was \u201cmuch higher\u201d than what the agency previously had to meet to launch investigations.<\/p>\n

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\u201c(We) are doing everything we can within the bounds of the legislation,\u201d Gurney said.<\/p>\n

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Gerson says that means the legislation needs to be changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf what I sent them was inadequate grounds for investigation by any legislative standards, then there\u2019s something wrong with the legislative standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elections Alberta and Alberta Justice locked horns Friday afternoon over the issue.<\/p>\n

Chief electoral officer Gordon McClure released a message to Albertans<\/a>, acknowledging the seriousness of the situation and reiterating the agency is bound by the limits of the legislation.<\/p>\n

In response, Justice Minister Mickey Amery\u2019s office said any suggestion the Bill 54 stopped Elections Alberta from investigating matters like this was \u201ccompletely inaccurate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather Jenkins, Amery\u2019s press secretary, pointed to the section of the act that says investigations can take place if the elections commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe an offence took place following receipt of a complaint or on its own initiative.<\/p>\n

Elections Alberta had raised concerns about the legislation change shortly after the bill was tabled.<\/p>\n

In a letter at the time, chief electoral officer Gordon McClure said it meant complainants would have to submit a \u201csubstantively completed investigation\u201d before the agency could start its own.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe proposed changes will eliminate the majority of the compliance activities undertaken by the election commissioner,\u201d McClure said in the letter.<\/p>\n

Smith said Friday morning her government will look at new legislation, depending on what comes out of investigations.<\/p>\n

On social media, the premier said protecting the private information of Albertans is critical and those responsible for the breach should be held accountable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand both Elections Alberta and the RCMP are looking into this matter thoroughly and we will wait for the results of those investigations before commenting further and assessing whether any future legislative changes need to be considered,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

We are aware of the situation involving a potential data breach of electors\u2019 personal information. <\/p>\n

Protecting the personal information of Albertans is of the utmost importance, and those responsible should be held accountable under the law.<\/p>\n

We understand both Elections Alberta\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) May 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

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Earlier this week, Elections Alberta announced it was investigating The Centurion Project.<\/p>\n

Elections Alberta went to court Thursday and got a judge to grant an injunction ordering The Centurion Project to take the website down, which it did within hours. The group later said it would comply with Elections Alberta\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for Elections Alberta said in court their investigators determined the database matched a voter list provided to the pro-independence Republican Party of Alberta last summer, which it was legally allowed to have.<\/p>\n

Such voter lists are distributed by Elections Alberta to elected officials, political parties and party officials with rules attached. Provincial law dictates the data can only be used to solicit donations, recruit party members and communicate with electors.<\/p>\n

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Security features such as unique fake names are added to each list, which Elections Alberta said allows it to identify who received each specific copy.<\/p>\n

Elections Alberta said its citizen initiative petition verification process will now include determining if any of the seeded fake names are contained in any incoming petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf any of the seeded names are included, further scrutiny will result,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Elections Alberta said it was still unclear if a party official had given the list to The Centurion Project organizers\u00a0or if it had been obtained through other means.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tPolitical activist David Parker, of Take Back Alberta and The Centurion Project, speaking to supporters in Edmonton, Alta. on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

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When asked about it by Global News on Wednesday night, David Parker wouldn\u2019t say how they got the information in their database, but that they\u2019d \u201clegally rented it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement on Thursday, The Centurion Project said it relied on an unnamed third party to build the dataset it used and the website will stay shut down until it complies with privacy laws.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s privacy watchdog says the alleged breach was incredibly serious and called on Smith\u2019s government to change privacy laws<\/a> to give her jurisdiction over political parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis incident demonstrates that it is high time for political parties to be made subject to (the Personal Information Protection Act),\u201d privacy commissioner Diane McLeod said.<\/p>\n

She added it\u2019s a move she and her predecessors have long sought for decades, and is something already in place in British Columbia. The act comes with stronger protections and restrictions on the use and collection of personal information, she said.<\/p>\n

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In his late Friday afternoon statement, McClure said Elections Alberta supported the privacy commissioner\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n

McLeod also noted the personal information that became public through The Centurion Project\u2019s website puts people at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some of these individuals, there is likely a real risk of significant harm given that their home address and phone numbers have been made public. This could be especially harmful for certain individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome examples might be those who work for law enforcement, who are public officials, who are fleeing intimate partner violence and other vulnerable individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cameron Davies, leader of Alberta\u2019s Republican party, has said it will also comply with Elections Alberta\u2019s investigation and that it warned The Centurion Project any information the group may have allegedly received \u2014 if it came from the party \u2014 is not to be used.<\/p>\n

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Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Friday the delayed Elections Alberta investigation raises serious questions, and called for an emergency legislature committee meeting to have McClure attend and explain further.<\/p>\n

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He also called on Smith\u2019s government to reverse the legislative change that Elections Alberta said tied its hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a huge hole in the wall that protects Albertans\u2019 privacy and Albertans\u2019 information and we need to plug that hole and we need to hear from the government what they\u2019re intending on doing,\u201d Nenshi said.<\/p>\n

\u201d If Elections Alberta is responding that the straight jacket on them prevents them from researching or investigating this giant data breach that puts millions of Albertans at risk for a whole month \u2014 it means the law doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The provincial law regulating the use of voter lists says violations can lead to fines of up to $100,000 and imprisonment of one year.<\/p>\n

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