Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel is confident he will be able to run in the upcoming provincial despite being ineligible to hold public office in Alberta for five years.
Elections Alberta banned the candidate for Edmonton-McClung after he missed the deadline to submit a financial statement disclosing election contributions and expenses on time.
“This is a big mistake that was made and we believe the court will correct it and we’ll move on,” Mandel told media on Saturday.
Elections Alberta stated the return was supposed to be filed by Sept. 12, 2018—four months after Mandel's Edmonton-McClung contest. His lawyers contended the deadline was actually in November, since the contest closed two months after Mandel was elected in May.
“This is their date. It doesn’t mean it was our date as well,” Mandel said.
The former Edmonton mayor also revealed his chief financial officer (CFO) was sick around the time the return had to be submitted.
“He had to resign because he was not well, so as a result of that he missed some of the dates and that’s part of the reason we’re here today.”
Mandel learned of the suspension Jan. 30.
Five other Alberta Party politicians received the same suspension.
“I think I would chalk this down to lack of professionalism by a new party trying to establish itself and become relevant,” Chaldeans Mensah, a political scientist at MacEwan University said.
“There's the legal realm and there's the political realm, and politically this isn't a good situation for a party heading into a coming campaign.”
With files from CTV Edmonton’s Timm Bruch
