The conservative activist behind Jason Kenney’s infamous “Kamikaze Campaign,” Cam Davies, has been revealed as the organizer behind a shadowy operation to pay for socialists to attend the UCP Leadership Review and vote against Premier Danielle Smith.
Script in question pictured (right)
In a phone call to The Counter Signal, Davies admitted to owning Canadian Market Strategies, the firm at the center of allegations involving the recruitment of radical left-wing Albertans in Red Deer.
“I am not going to discuss what questions we were asking or for what client. I can tell you that we were asking left leaning questions. Nobody at any point in time was offering cash to attend the AGM if they were purple haired NDPers.”
Davies then insisted that everything after that statement was off the record, and spoke for another 15 minutes.
Davies was fined a total of $12,000 by Elections Alberta for breaking election law six times during Kenney’s leadership race.
The script in question that Davies denies exists asks several questions aimed at identifying Red Deerians at the door who are sufficiently left-wing. Once the right boxes are checked, says “Great! I will collect your information and have one of our representatives call you and walk you through the reimbursement process.”
The goal of the operation, organized by disillusioned conservative activists, was to recruit socialist members into the UCP ranks who would reliably vote against Smith in her leadership review, according to whistleblower Rob Fillion.
Whistleblower describes the “shady” operations of Canadian Market Strategies
Filion, who was briefly employed by Canadian Market Strategies, provided scripts that he says were used by Davies.
He detailed how he was hired to canvass Red Deer to recruit members of the LGBTQ2IA+ community and other left-leaning groups to join the UCP, all with the express purpose of voting Smith out of leadership.
Filion describes it as “all very shady,” highlighting a strategy of “whatever means necessary” to weaken Smith’s hold on the party.
If they were successful, those new recruits would have been legally entitled to vote for Smith’s successor, likely a centrist alternative.
Filion disclosed that Canadian Market Strategies offered staff $20/hour to tour Red Deer and offer cash reimbursements of up to $200 for left-wing residents willing to register for the UCP convention and vote against Smith.
Filion described the experience as disturbing, noting how the campaign preyed on vulnerable people looking for employment while pushing a hidden political agenda.
“It’s all very shady. They said ‘oh no no no we’re non-partisan’ but I’m like, this is so left friggin leaning that it was obvious that this was not good,” Fillion said.
Meetings were held in public parks, and participants were instructed to claim that they worked for “Albertans for Democracy in Action” rather than the shadowy Canadian Market Strategies.
Whistleblower photographed the evidence
Filion photographed scripts provided by staffers of Davies, detailing the process of identifying sufficiently left-wing individuals, and then offering to pay them a $200 cash reimbursement in exchange for registering for and attending the UCP AGM to vote against the incumbent leader.
Davies denied that his company uses paper scripts, saying “we don’t use paper surveys, we have a very high-tech app.”
Filion alleged that the app failed on that day, requiring a printed script to be photographed and used.
UCP now performing an audit
The UCP is now auditing their membership lists in Red Deer to ensure compliance following our reporting.
Davies denies the substance of this story, and requested that the earlier reporting be taken down.
The Counter Signal reached out to Davies again by social media and by phone to request comment and did not receive a response by publication. We will update the story if that changes.
It is not illegal to give cash reimbursements to attend political conventions in Alberta.
The source of Davies financing is unconfirmed at this time.
