Joe Anglin says Tories asked him to cross floor to buy his silence

With a provincial election on the horizon, Alberta's Tory party is working behind the scenes to silence critics and control nomination races, says IndependentMLA Joe Anglin.

Anglin said he approached the Tories earlier this year about running for the party's nomination in his home riding, after some of his constituents encouraged him to do so.

Soon after, he said he got some advice.

"During the nomination process, I was asked by one individual if I would cross now and make the nomination process easier," he said. "And I said, absolutely not. I'd rather lose by a vote than cross the floor."

Anglin said similar words of encouragement came from a handful of Tory MLAs, including one cabinet minister.

The MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre won't name names, but said the message was clear. And he didn't appreciate it.

"You have a government here who's positioning themselves to silence ... anyone who could speak up."

Anglin said he has watched as candidates, with little or no explanation, have been disqualified in a number of Tory nomination races across the province. He accused the party of turning a democratic process into an undemocratic farce.

Before he was disqualified as a candidate, Anglin said he met with members of the PCAA nomination committee in mid-February in Red Deer. PCAA president Terri Beaupre and Kelley Charlebois, the party's executive director, both attended.

"I had to bring proof of citizenship," Anglin said, chuckling. "The silliness around that just made me scratch my head."

Anglin said at that meeting he was questioned about his criticism of Alberta's electricity market and the companies involved in it. He got the sense the party wanted to know whether he would continue to do so if he became a Tory MLA.

"We came to the conclusion I was not in their best interest, and I've never been in their best interest. To me, this is not about party, this is about the public. And that's where, in my view, the government's gone wrong."

Neither Charlebois nor Beaupre could be reached for comment.

Nomination process 'very democratic,' premier says

At a news conference Tuesday in Edmonton, Premier JIm Prentice was asked whether the public should have doubts about his party's fair treatment of those who want to be candidates.

"The nomination process is very democratic," Prentice said.

He pointed out that the only real problem so far has been in one Edmonton riding, where MLA Naresh Bhardwaj was accused of offering a bribe to an opponent to drop out. Bhardwaj denies the claim and has filed a $1-million lawsuit for defamation.

Brent Rathgeber has been standing on the sidelines, watching. He considers himself to be someone with an "insider perspective," given that he was a Tory MLA from 2001-2004 and is now an independent MP for Edmonton-St Albert.

"I've seen some changes in the behaviour patterns of the MLAs in the 10 or 11 years now since I've left provincial politics. And not in a good way."

Rathgeber said he is also concerned about the nomination process, and whether there is interference with the races from within the premier's office. There are allegations Prentice's principal secretary, Patricia Misutka, has interfered in those races by helping to vet prospective Tory candidates.

Rathgeber said if those allegations are true, it's "most inappropriate for any high-level staffer inside the premier's office to be meddling and interfering with a nomination."

But he also sees a pattern developing, one he's familiar with. Rathgeber left the Stephen Harper's Conservative caucus because he felt MPs were losing their independence, and had to fall in line with whatever position the prime minister took on issues.

He sees the same thing happening at the Alberta Legislature.

"I'm not saying that when I was here, and when Premier Klein was the premier, that everybody behaved like Boy Scouts. We didn't. But I think things have gotten progressively worse in the decade since I've been here."