Moncton Centre MLA Robert McKee is calling on the provincial conservative party to cut its ties with the political lobby group “Proudly NB” or “NB Proud”. 

The group, which has consistently campaigned for the Conservative party both provincially and federally, was in the news again this week for placing robocalls in the province that directed people to vote on the wrong day.

McKee filed a complaint with Elections NB last month regarding the activities of a group identifying itself as “NB Proud” during the 2018 provincial election campaign. 

McKee pointed to a number of potential violations of the Political Process Financing Act ranging from failing to properly disclose donors, to potential collusion with the Progressive Conservative party. 

Since that complaint was filed it has been revealed that a provincial conservative party official was working for proudly NB this past year. 

Alan McCann testified under oath in an unrelated court case that he was employed by proudly NB while he was president of the Campbellton-Dalhousie provincial conservative riding association. 

Premier Blaine Higgs’ former executive assistant Nic Ouellette was involved in a transaction that saw the Modern Miracle Network, an Alberta-based group that promotes the oil industry, donate $8,000 to Proudly NB. 

The Saint John-based law firm Lawson Creamer helped funnel another donation of $7,000 from the Manning Centre, also based in Alberta, to Proudly NB. The Manning Centre’s stated purpose is to support the Conservative movement across the country. 

Recently, Facebook banned an anti-Liberal ad funded by the Manning Centre for being excessively violent. 

“I’m even willing to give the premier the benefit of the doubt when he says he had no personal knowledge of the dealings of Proudly NB,” McKee said. “But the claim his party has no ties to this group is clearly false. The premier needs to publicly denounce their activities.”

“The robocalls placed on election day show this group clearly has no respect for our election laws, or the democratic process in New Brunswick. It appears they have now broken both provincial and federal laws.” “When you have Albertans with deep pockets pulling the strings in elections in New Brunswick, something’s wrong. It would be nice to have the premier stand up and say that.”