On April 22, New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate for Airdrie Chris Noble released a press release in which he said the Progressive Conservative (PC) candidate Peter Brown used “foreknowledge of the date of the election” to book a table at the Airdrie Home and Lifestyle Show held at Genesis Place Recreation Centre on April 25 and 26, to the exclusion of all other political candidates.
“As soon as the election had been called, we inquired if there was room at the Home and Lifestyle Show and were told it had been sold out since January,” Noble said. “We were supposed to have a pre-set election date and that was supposed to be next year, so when the local mayor manages to book a table a month before the election is called and none of the other candidates can get a table, it doesn’t look like this is a non-partisan event.”
Reached for comment on April 23, Brown said he did not book the table himself, but that it was booked by the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (PCAA) Airdrie constituency office.
President of the PCAA Airdrie office Rey Rawlins said the organization booked a table for the PC candidate, not at the Home and Lifestyle Show but in the Airdrie Regional ARTS Society (A.R.T.S.) Art Market, on March 8.
The Art Market takes place in the auxiliary gymnasium while the Home and Lifestyle Show takes place in the field house.
“I sent an email to the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce in early March and that was only because we were thinking, whether or not there was an election we’d like to get a booth,” Rawlins said.
Brown announced he would seek the Airdrie PC nomination on Jan. 22 and was proclaimed on Feb. 3. On April 7, Premier Jim Prentice announced a provincial election would take place on May 5.
According to Rawlins, he initially inquired about a booth at the show but was told none were available and was put on a waiting list. He said he was then told the A.R.T.S. Society might still have space.
“(A.R.T.S.) sent me a registration form, I filled it out and got a booth. That’s how simple it was,” he said. “We just assumed other political associations would be thinking like that, too.”
President of the A.R.T.S. board Becky Kundert said because registration by artists was low this year, the group decided to open up a few tables to non-arts organizations and businesses.
“We accepted registration on a first come, first serve basis and we filled up really quickly after that,” she said.
Marie Lauer, events co-ordinator with the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce, said the organization holds strongly to “the non-partisan nature of the Chamber.”
“With all the political campaigning going on, the committee made a decision that we should probably make everyone in all parties aware of our policy in regards to solicitation,” she said, adding on April 22 an email outlining this policy was sent to all candidates. “The exhibitors pay money to be there and we wanted to be sure that the candidates knew that they couldn’t go in there and solicit people.”
She said she saw suggestions on social media candidates should be given time on the stage at the show, something the Chamber was not able to do.
“We have that stage fully booked at least in January, if not before, so what am I supposed to tell the young kids that are dancing? That they can’t come on the stage anymore because we’re taking them out and putting politicians in?”
For his part, Noble said in the press release, “it just looks bad for democracy in Alberta when the mayor of Airdrie is campaigning at an event organized by the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce excluding other candidates. On the surface, it stinks.”
