Stephen Mandel, leader of the Alberta Party, has received a five-year ban from running for public office after he allegedly failed to file financial paperwork on time ahead of the spring election.
In a letter to Mandel, Elections Alberta said the Alberta Party candidate for Edmonton-McClung missed the deadline to submit his campaign return, which includes a financial statement, a campaign expense report and other documents.
Five other Alberta Party candidates are listed as ineligible to run on the Elections Alberta website.
Elections Alberta stated the return was supposed to be filed by Sept. 12, 2018—four months after Mandel became party leader.
Mandel’s lawyers, in a letter to Elections Alberta, argued the deadline was actually in November, because the contest closed two months after he was elected in May.
The return was filed on Sept. 27, his lawyers said.
Mandel has asked the Court of Queen’s Bench to overturn the ban.
“While this is concerning, we also believe there is confusion about the actual due dates this paperwork is due to Elections Alberta,” Mandel said in a news release Friday night. “Based on our interpretation of a July 2018 letter we received from Elections Alberta, we believe we have filed within the required deadline.”
Mandel will speak to media Saturday afternoon.
