Nenshi calls for maximum punishment for individuals guilty of unauthorized electoral list distribution

EDMONTON— Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi unleashed a vicious rant on Thursday, condemning the alleged unauthorized use of information from Alberta's List of Electors by the Centurion Project, an Alberta independence advocacy group, and calling for severe punishment for individuals found guilty.

"There are very, very serious implications for this kind of behaviour," said Nenshi in a press conference. "It's dangerous. It puts people's lives at risk, and it puts our democracy at risk."

"So, there are very, very, very severe consequences for this, and I hope that the parties that are doing the investigating will prosecute to the fullest extent, and anyone found guilty of wrongdoing should have the maximum possible penalty."

Nenshi's comments came hours after news broke that the Centurion Project had received a cease-and-desist order from Elections Alberta on Wednesday, in coordination with the watchdog's investigation into a tip received on Monday that the group was using data from the electoral list to coordinate advocacy.

"It has come to Elections Alberta’s attention an inappropriate use and/or distribution of the List of Electors by a legitimate list recipient may have occurred," reads a statement from Elections Alberta released Thursday morning.

"...There has been no breach of Elections Alberta’s databases or systems.

The unfolding situation is believed to involve a third party and to have occurred as a result of the inappropriate use and/or distribution of the list of electors by a registered political party that was a legitimate recipient of the list."

Elections Alberta later revealed that they found information on the Centurion Project website found in the List of Electors, and traced their copy of the data back to a list issued to the Republican Party of Alberta.

"First of all, any party that did that doesn't deserve to be a political party," Nenshi said prior to finding out about the Republican Party's alleged involvement. "They should be deregistered immediately. All the data should be taken away."

He added that political parties are expected to restrict access to the list, and that individuals with access must sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Court of King's Bench Justice John Little issued an injunction ordering the Centurion Project to remove the information from their website, for them and the Republican Party to stop disseminating it, and for them to provide a list of any individuals who have received it.

Individuals who are found guilty of violating provisions of the Elections Act are subject to fines of up to $100,000 and, if convicted in court, could face up to one year in prison.

Nenshi said the information being shared should scare Albertans.

"Your personal information, your address, your phone number, was made available by the separatists to any Tom, Dick and Harry with no security controls," Nenshi said.

"You got someone who's mad at you, who's had a grudge on you, well, now they know where you live, and they know your phone number, you should be very, very worried about this."

Elections Alberta issued guidance for Albertans concerned about the breach, telling them to be aware and vigilant, be skeptical of texts and emails claiming to help them reclaim their information, consider setting up online monitoring, and contact police immediately if they think they are a victim of identity theft.
https://www.westernstandard.news/alberta/nenshi-calls-for-maximum-punishment-for-individuals-guilty-of-unauthorized-electoral-list-distribution/73143