Fake Recall in Lethbridge

The Calgary Herald posted a story about the Fake Recall1 yesterday, in which I was quoted:

“I’m not aware of anyone actually being able to sign the petition,” said Jeff Milner, a Lethbridge-East resident.

Milner was part of a group who had submitted a petition of their own to recall Neudorf, a United Conservative Party MLA, to Elections Alberta. But because Elections Alberta approved Tanner’s petition, the group’s petition was rejected.

Milner told Postmedia in December he believes the recall campaign was orchestrated to prevent “a real recall petition,” such as the one organized by him and others, from moving forward.

I also did an interview with the CBC but I after the amount of time it’s been, I’m not sure it’s ever going to air.

  1. Apple News link[]

The Great Recall Caper

The Great Recall Caper thumbnail

I’ve been working on this video for the past few days.

From my video description:

On November 25, 2025, Lethbridge-East got an active recall petition campaign for Nathan Neudorf, but not everything is as it appears. Follow the unraveling of a real life conspiracy in this short explainer video.

As far as how I feel about the whole thing, it’s disappointing but I think that a fake recall might be more politically poisonous to Neudorf than our actual recall would have been.

I know this isn’t much of a consolation to folks that wanted to help but if you’re one of those people, consider signing up to help with the Alberta Funds Public Schools or the coal mining petition1.

  1. put forth by Corb Lund.[]

Genny Steed and the Fake Recall

I played a part in handing out the pieces, but this guy put them together:

https://recallfan44.substack.com/p/867-53oh-my

[I]f you’re going to do shifty things, don’t brag about it to friends, because eventually someone is going to say something in passing, and there’s no way to put that toothpaste back in the tube.

Yesterday, I was emailing back and forth with another person who has also been investigating this situation, and received some very interesting information:

The rumour is (and this is just a rumour — I have no idea the reputation of the people spreading it) that she approached Ryan Tanner because she is friends with him and he doesn’t have a Facebook account. I’m looking into the rumour more asking around to try and find the person that said it.

Needless to say, we found what we were looking for.

Update: It turns out that Ryan Tanner has a Facebook account–it’s just one that is dormant/private. It has only one public facing post since it was started in 2007.

All I want for Christmas

I’ve been hearing some concerning rumours about a former politician, someone the media hasn’t mentioned in this context yet, who might be behind the phony recall, but I’m waiting for some more evidence before I post about it here.

In the meantime, this editorial by Scott Sakatch in the Lethbridge Herald declares that he believes there is no way it’s a legitimate petition.

Update: This reddit thread shows what people think about this injustice.

Neudorf Recall Mystery Deepens

The Lethbridge Herald has published the story, Neudorf recall mystery deepens, which details the story of a mysterious man who claims he got a call from Neudorf’s office to take the paperwork to willing canvassers for the petition.1

Shortly after 8 a.m., said Apperloo, a man walked in carrying a stack of papers. The man said he was “Mike” and apologized for being late, adding that he came from the west side.

According to legislation, canvassers involved in a provincial recall campaign must have lived in the electoral division for a minimum of three months prior to volunteering.

At the time, however, Apperloo didn’t think anything of it and proceeded to fill out an application.

While she was doing that, Phillips walked into the restaurant and introduced herself to Mike. She had experience with the Forever Canadian petition and had some questions for Mike, including who Ryan Tanner was.

Phillips told the Herald that Mike claimed he didn’t know who Ryan Tanner was, or how a recall petition worked.

There are so many red flags in this story that I’m still in disbelief that we have all the details.

After Phillips left, Apperloo had a brief conversation with Mike, who admitted he was unfamiliar with the recall process.

“I said I was kind of surprised there weren’t more people here because I know people wanted to sign and then he says, ‘I don’t even really know what all of this is about.’”

Apperloo said she explained the process to him, then asked where he got the forms if he’d never met Tanner. Mike replied that he’d got them from Nathan Neudorf’s office.

“He said, ‘well, Sariah gave me a call’ and I said ‘Sariah, like Nathan Neudorf’s office manager?’ and he says, ‘yeah, she gave me a call to come bring these papers down to you.’”

Confused, Apperloo said she asked Mike why Neudorf would be in on his own recall, then had to further explain recalls to him.

Some friends of friends tell me they were there that morning and talked to the mysterious Mike.

“[He] was coincidentally at Timmy’s that morning and chatted with Barb Phillips. At some point, [he] talked with this ‘Mike’ and he did get his last name [‘Richey’].”2.

Who is this Mike Richey? I want to meet him because I’ve got questions!

Update: It has been confirmed that this is the same Mike Richey.

  1. Previously[]
  2. Originally spelled as Ritchie in the email I received[]

Where’s Ryan

Alexandra Noad writing for the Lethbridge Herald:

Nearly two weeks after a recall petition for Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf was approved by Elections Alberta, speculation is swirling about the campaign and a total lack of action by its organizer.

Many residents in the riding, along with other Albertans, are concerned about the legitimacy of the petition since many have offered their support and assistance, only to receive radio silence from Ryan Tanner, the person whose name is on the Notice of Recall Petition.

Achieving this level of media coverage for a legitimate petition might have been a tall order but thanks to Tanner it’s all over the news. Furthermore, despite protecting him from recall, I suspect the fake petition is actually catastrophic for Neudorf’s re-election prospects.

Today’s editorial by Scott Sakatch about Tanner, the invisible man, is also worth reading.