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UPDATED: Former MLA charged with sexual interference with a minor

Publication ban lifted on the identity of the former United Conservative MLA
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MLA Don MacIntyre has been charged in connection to an alleged sexual assault. (Photo contributed)

Former MLA Don MacIntyre has been charged in connection to an alleged sexual assault and sexual interference with a minor.

On Feb. 2 the Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA resigned from the UCP caucus and MacIntyre posted a message on social media saying he was leaving politics to focus on his family.

Until today, a publication ban on MacIntyre’s name was in place. The ban was lifted this morning.

United Conservative leader Jason Kenny said he was “shocked and disgusted” to learn of the serious criminal charges filed against MacIntyre.

“I commend the RCMP for their investigation of these alleged crimes. We must now respect the legal system as these charges are brought to trial, while hoping that justice will be done,” Kenny said in a statement.

He said MacIntyre phoned the UCP House Leader at noon on Feb. 2 to say he was resigning from the Legislature following charges being laid against him by the RCMP for sexual assault.

“This was the first time that we learned of such allegations against him. Mr. MacIntyre also told our House Leader that the charges were subject to a Court-ordered publication ban.”

Kenny said he instructed UCP’s legal counsel to support an application to lift the ban as the serious charges facing MacIntyre were a matter of public interest.

Justice Glen Poehlman agreed Friday with arguments that the justice of the peace who originally ordered the sweeping ban had made an error in law.

MacIntyre was in his first term as MLA. He was elected in 2015 as a member of the Wildrose Party and joined the UCP following the merger with the Progressive Conservative Party.

From June, 2015 to July, 2017 and then from August, 2017 to October, 2017, he served as the opposition shadow minister for electricity and renewables. He then served as the opposition’s critic for electricity and renewables.

In early 2017, MacIntyre was under fire for comments he made regarding climate change as a member of the Wildrose party. One NDP caucus member said he should be removed from his position after saying “the science isn’t settled,” when speaking to reporters about whether humans contribute to climate change.

Prior to politics, MacIntyre was a part-time instructor and curriculum developer at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. He also worked as the chief technical officer for a geothermal company between 2010 and 2012.

With files from The Canadian Press



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