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NDP dismisses party takeover attempt

The Alberta NDP says there have been “a few hundred” applications for party memberships from activists opposed to the Notley government, dismissing the prospect of a party takeover.

George Clark, organizer of the anti-NDP Albertans First petition campaign, called on opponents of the government to buy NDP memberships in a bid to force changes in party policy.

The movement has been mocked on social media as the “kudatah,” based on the misspelling of coup d’etat online by an opponent of the NDP.

NDP provincial secretary Chris O’Halloran said Thursday that it was difficult to say how many applications from people associated with the movement have come in to the party but he estimated a ballpark number of about 250.

He said that figure was determined based on searches of social media and political donation records, which O’Halloran said is standard for membership applications.

Some, but not all, of the applications have been rejected, said O’Halloran. The provincial NDP constitution requires that members support party principles and not belong to another party.

O’Halloran said he expects the impact of Clark and the Albertans First movement to be minimal.

“I don’t think he is going to have any success in changing our principles, our values and what Albertans elected us to do,” he said.

“I can’t see how they’re going to get enough people in to be disruptive.”

But Clark — who organized a protest at the opening of the legislature on Tuesday — said the NDP was unaware that Albertans First supporters had been buying memberships for months prior to his announcement of the tactic.

“There was almost a full two months of people quietly joining after talking with me,” he said in an interview Thursday.

Clark said he believed that around 3,000 members have joined the NDP since the start of 2016, though he said that he was not sure how many are affiliated with his organization.

He said that “several hundred” membership applications have been rejected by the party, adding that opens the door to procedural and legal challenges of the NDP.

Clark has launched petitions calling for plebiscites on the NDP’s farm worker safety legislation and planned carbon tax.

He had previously suggested he would unveil a legal, democratic way to force Notley from office if she refused to hold the votes. However, in February Clark said his plan had always been for supporters to buy NDP memberships.

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NDP dismisses party takeover attempt

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