The founder of an influential political action group in Alberta says an ongoing investigation into its activities by Elections Alberta is just “the left trying to destroy someone.”
In a recent Zoom session posted to Rumble, David Parker, founder of Take Back Alberta rejected suggestions his organization has breached elections law while raising questions about the fairness of the election regulator’s process.
Parker said that Elections Alberta has hired multiple investigators to investigate whether Take Back Alberta has violated election laws. He added that he has been cooperative and feels he has done nothing wrong.
Election Alberta’s first accusation against the organization is that its town hall meetings are allegedly election advertising. Parker defended these meetings, saying he tells stories about his life and has people get up to talk about why they’re involved in politics.
Parker said there is a double standard between how Take Back Alberta and Alberta teachers unions are treated given unions, he said, have NDP literature in their meeting rooms and Alberta Teachers’ Association actively campaigned against the United Conservative Party.
When concerns have been raised, they fall on deaf ears, Parker said.
“Those complaints were never looked into,” said Parker. “However, 24 very minor complaints have been filed about Take Back Alberta, and they have hired seven investigators to look into whether or not we broke any laws.”
In an email to True North, Elections Alberta said that the Election Commissioner may investigate any matter that may constitute an offence. The organization said that its findings and decisions are well-documented and applied consistently to all complaints and investigations. However, in accordance with the Election Act, the regulator said it is unable to comment on allegations or investigations.
Parker firmly believes Take Back Alberta has not broken any laws. He affirmed that the organization is not a political party but a not-for-profit dedicated to educating people on how their democracy works.
“This is very clearly a textbook example of the left trying to destroy someone through what people call in the industry, in politics, lawfare — using the law for warfare. And their goal is to try to discredit Take Back Alberta and the things we’ve accomplished by smearing it as illegal or breaking the law,” said Parker. “I do not care whether they say what we’re doing is illegal because I know that it should not be illegal.”
Elections Alberta has demanded that Parker hand over the names of everyone who has ever donated to Take Back Alberta. He said he would not comply. He said that he does not trust Elections Alberta or the government with information that could be used to target past donors.
“The media will say I am breaking the law by not giving these names to Elections Alberta. I don’t care,” said Parker. “Because I know that what is right is more important than what the law says, and I am not going to put the people who have donated to this movement at risk just because the government asked me to.”
Alberta lawyer Leighton Grey has reportedly agreed to represent Take Back Alberta in its case with Elections Alberta. Grey had previously sent a letter to Elections Alberta about the integrity of Alberta’s elections.
Parker threatened to seek the removal of everyone currently employed by Elections Alberta.
“If this government agency thinks that they can silence me by fining me, or by putting my name in the media, or claiming that these meetings that we have held together and the things that we’ve done together are illegal, then I declare them an enemy of democracy,” Parker said. “And, if Elections Alberta has become an enemy of democracy, that means that we must remove everyone currently employed there.”
Parker went on to accuse the election regulator of being a “political weapon” that has been “captured by the socialists, particularly NDP supporters.”
Elections Alberta defended its impartiality to True North.
“Elections Alberta is a politically neutral organization and does not support or endorse any political party or candidate at any level of government,” said the organization.
He also made an unconfirmed allegation that there was “massive voter fraud” during the previous provincial election.
Over the coming weeks, Parker said that he will begin exposing some of the corruption through his profile on X. He warned that this would result in an escalation of attacks on himself and Take Back Alberta.
“What I ask is that you read carefully, that you pay attention, and that you understand is that what we’re trying to do here is take down a corrupt system.”
Elections Alberta is claiming that Parker enriched himself with Take Back Alberta, he claimed. Over the next few months, he said that he will be showing how much money he’s lost, which he described as a substantial amount.
Despite the investigation and accusations, Parker said he will not stop doing what he’s doing.
“I will not stop teaching you how your democracy works. I will not stop going to meetings, and I will not stop advocating for more people being involved in politics,” he said. “I will, however, now declare an endless war on Elections Alberta until every single employee there has been fired. I believe that Elections Alberta has been corrupted. I believe the evidence is even more clear in this final point.”
Editor’s Note: David Parker is married to a True North journalist, who did not contribute to this story.
