{"id":33245,"date":"2026-05-08T01:34:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=33245"},"modified":"2026-05-08T01:43:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:43:55","slug":"independent-public-inquiry-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=33245","title":{"rendered":"Independent Public Inquiry demand&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-f367037d3e2a04ffdf937771dafbc207\" style=\"color:#de1309\">EDMONTON &#8212; Alberta&#8217;s elections agency said Thursday,May 7\/26 it believes 568 people accessed a voter list at the heart of a massive privacy breach involving a separatist group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-7903cb495468de5448f47e0471e38617\" style=\"color:#de1309\">The group, called the Centurion Project, had made a publicly accessible database featuring the names and addresses of nearly three million Alberta voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-light-blue-color has-dark-red-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-11910f6d5d5ce76daa3df53b646c0b45\"><strong>A call for an independent public inquiry into the management and use of Alberta\u2019s voters list<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Click Link for post<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/open.substack.com\/pub\/drjaredwesley\/p\/momentum-toward-a-public-inquiry?r=1sx7vz&amp;utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&amp;utm_medium=web\">https:\/\/open.substack.com\/pub\/drjaredwesley\/p\/momentum-toward-a-public-inquiry?r=1sx7vz&amp;utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&amp;utm_medium=web<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jared-Wesley.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jared-Wesley.jpg 700w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jared-Wesley-300x295.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">SOURCE:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalobserver.com\/u\/jared-wesley\"><br>Jared Wesley<\/a> is professor of political science and associate dean (Graduate) in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">May 7th 2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Thirty-eight (38) academics from across the province joined me in publishing&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalobserver.com\/2026\/05\/07\/opinion\/call-independent-public-inquiry-management-use-albertas-voters-list\">this open letter&nbsp;<\/a>earlier this morning. I invite you to read and share it widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we argue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-light-blue-color has-dark-red-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-9e11b15af6e0a340ad3795f701520e69\">The integrity of the voters list must be beyond reproach. In a healthy democracy, Albertans have confidence that their personal information is protected. They have assurance that elections and referendums are conducted on a level playing field. They have institutions that are, and are seen to be, independent and trustworthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-light-blue-color has-dark-red-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-72c6c7e0ddd2b35cede9113e0c890e0a\">An independent public inquiry is the most effective way to restore those conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I argued earlier, police and Elections Alberta investigations are underway. They are necessary. But they are not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"713\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Court-Painter-Jason-Wesley.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Court-Painter-Jason-Wesley.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Court-Painter-Jason-Wesley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Court-Painter-Jason-Wesley-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-14e1da8d2acd27de12146cc2ec68cc94\" style=\"color:#0b6098\">Court Painter &amp; Portrait of Jared Wesley<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"719\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Premier-Smith-flame-out.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21891\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Premier-Smith-flame-out.jpg 719w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Premier-Smith-flame-out-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-598c3bcf0167dbb61c7b94db77907db7\" style=\"color:#cd1910\">Premier Danielle Smith seen contemplating her next move as the political fallout turns up the heat for a public inquiry into the voter database privacy.breach<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Court-Painter-Smith-flame-out.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Court-Painter-Smith-flame-out.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Court-Painter-Smith-flame-out-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Court-Painter-Smith-flame-out-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EDMONTON &#8212; Alberta&#8217;s elections agency said Thursday,May 7\/26 it believes 568 people accessed a voter list at the heart of a massive privacy breach involving a separatist group. The group, called the Centurion Project, had made a publicly accessible database featuring the names and addresses of nearly three million Alberta voters. A call for an &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=33245\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Independent Public Inquiry demand&#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-images","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33245"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33265,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33245\/revisions\/33265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}