Long after 2021 election, city releases names of donors to third party advertisers
CBC
The City of Calgary has released the names of donors who gave money to third party advertisers in the 2021 municipal election as directed by Alberta's privacy commissioner.
Third party advertisers (TPAs) promote or oppose candidates or highlight specific issues in an election.
They are required to register and to later disclose financial information on their donations and spending. For the last municipal election, that financial disclosure was to be filed with the city by March 1, 2022.
The City of Calgary did release disclosure reports from TPAs on their spending but it redacted the names of their donors.
In total, there were 176 donors to the eight registered TPAs.
CBC News filed a request under Alberta's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation (FOIP) to obtain the donor information.
But in May 2022, the City of Calgary again refused to provide that information.
It stated that releasing those details would be harmful to "the business interests" of third parties and that it would be "harmful to personal privacy."
In June 2022, CBC News filed an appeal of that decision to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC).
In its recent decision, the OIPC determined that the donor information is not confidential and that releasing the details would not cause any harm as defined in the FOIP legislation.
The OIPC agreed that in line with provincial law, the City of Calgary could redact any personal information and exempted all donor information regarding those who gave less than $250.
It directed the city to reprocess the original FOIP request and the city complied.
Lori Williams, an associate professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University, said voters could use this information before they cast their ballot.
She expressed disappointment that it took more than two years after the election to get this information, even though provincial law states it must be disclosed soon after the votes are tallied.
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