EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s chief of staff says a caucus staffer who attended a meeting about what was later found to be a massive data breach thought it was just about a new voter tool.

Rob Anderson says in a social media post there’s no way the United Conservative Party caucus staffer could have known the website app –containing names and home addresses of almost three million Albertans – was built from illegally obtained data.

Investigations by Elections Alberta and the RCMP began last week into the breach.

The virtual meeting the caucus staffer attended took place two weeks earlier on April 16.

The Opposition NDP publicized the staffer’s attendance in a news conference Tuesday and says the UCP needs to explain why it didn’t report the matter to authorities.

Anderson says he wants to see “justice done” and that the NDP just wants to score “cheap political points” that threaten to undermine the integrity of the investigations.

“Get a grip man,” Anderson said about NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, in the social media post late Tuesday.

“I am the Premier’s chief of staff, am literally hated by your followers (you should see the threats I get daily) and have a wife and five kids at home. I have every reason to be as upset and concerned about this breach as anyone.

“You want to score cheap political points with it even if it risks invalidating the entire investigation…. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2026.

The Canadian Press