Okay, let’s take a close look at the Alberta NDP this morning…
September 21, 2007: NDP MLA Ray Martin writes to Alberta unions to shake them down for a minimum of $5,000 to fund another NDP election campaign.
Fall 2007: NDP leader Brian Mason writes in his Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA newsletter that he supports eliminating corporate and union donations to political parties.
Furthermore, NDP leader Brian Mason said in Calgary yesterday that “Liberals and Conservatives accepted $1.5 million from big oil and other large corporations in 2006, and almost $1.6 million in 2005.” The statement is not just misleading, but wrong.
According to Elections Alberta breakdowns, the Alberta Liberals received roughly $273,000 from all corporate sources in 2005, and $336,000 in 2006. When you actually look at the numbers, lumping the Alberta Liberals together with the Progressive Conservative fundraising totals is disingenuous.
Mason also stated the NDP received $18,000 from unions in 2006. While this is correct, the NDP received over $100,000 in donations from union sources in 2004, an election year.
One wonders how much the NDP raised in 2007, when NDP MLA Ray Martin demanded his $5,000 shakedown…
