Edmonton councillor pushes back against claims made in anonymous letter sent to province

Edmonton city councillors say Alberta’s premier unfairly cast doubt on and undermined local elected officials last month by publicly discussing unproven allegations in an anonymous letter she hadn’t seen.

Ward Karhiio Coun. Keren Tang said she is the subject of an anonymous letter alleging a conflict of interest signed “a concerned citizen” sent to Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver’s office last month, and recently forwarded to Edmonton’s integrity commissioner for review.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told reporters on March 27 that she had concerns about the workings of the City of Edmonton suggesting the province could intervene to help at the city’s request, pointing to Edmonton’s finances and the exodus of top bureaucrats. Smith mentioned some of her concerns stem from an anonymous letter she heard would soon arrive at McIver’s office.

Tang told Postmedia she had the same questions as anyone else when she heard about the letter and was surprised to find out last week it was about her. Any allegation of a conflict is false, she said.

“I don’t understand the connection between what is being laid out (in the letter) and the accusations the premier has made about the City of Edmonton, about city council,” she said in an interview Thursday.

“It puts a great risk and uncertainty onto council, onto the City of Edmonton. It shakes peoples’ confidence in us, and it’s based on something that is not true … I think it’s a pretty classic example of this government, of this premier, wanting to overreach into municipalities.”

Tang said the provincial government has a bias against cities: “It’s very open, it’s very public, and now I’m a casualty in that, and not only that, it’s me and my family, and I think that’s pretty awful.”

Postmedia has not seen the full letter. However, this newspaper learned Tuesday that Tang and an alleged conflict with a family member’s business were the subject of the letter. Global News published a portion with redactions on Wednesday.

Tang told Postmedia the letter describes how her husband is the co-founder of a local non-profit. His non-profit received a sponsorship from a different Edmonton technology organization. That organization later obtained a land lease from the city in the Edmonton Research Park. A council committee on March 23, 2022, discussed the future of the Edmonton Research Park and Tang asked questions about the development.