Police are investigating alleged death threats against the president of a Progressive Conservative constituency association after a heated nomination in Calgary last weekend.
Dale Galbraith has indicated he received two threats on his phone hours after candidate Muhammed Rasheed outlasted eight other candidates in the riding of Calgary-McCall last Saturday night.
Galbraith said the messages indicated that someone was going to kill him, alleged there was vote rigging and that there would be consequences when he sought the nomination in Calgary-Currie this weekend.
Premier Alison Redford told reporters Tuesday she had been informed about the threats against Galbraith.
She said the whole thing is disappointing.
“That Calgary-McCall nomination was a nomination where nine candidates ran,” said Redford. “In contested nominations people need to know there will be one winner and everyone else won’t win. I think it’s really unfortunate that a person who may not have been successful has reacted this way.
“I think it speaks to the fact that people need to understand that as we move forward in any political process that while things can be emotional there’s an appropriate way to act.”
Redford, who is expected to call an election within the next couple of months, said she is not involved in any of the nomination races.
That being said, she said the appropriate thing is for the police to investigate the alleged threats and take action. She doesn’t see a problem with the current system used by her party to select candidates.
“This was an incident in a particular area as a result of a particular person. One of the things I like about our party is that we have a very open nomination process and people can get those nominated signatures and run and it’s an unfortunate reaction but that’s life.”