Alberta’s New Democratic Party (NDP) caucus is reportedly sending out text messages to the province’s residents, in an attempt to connect with potential voters.
According to a March 21st, 2018 Global News report, Albertans are receiving messages from the provincial NDP caucus asking recipients if they agree on issues like Premier Rachel Notley’s stance on pipeline jobs.
In a message sent to a Corus employee, a representative claiming to be from Alberta NDP caucus says that the party is “texting possible cell numbers in [Alberta] to let constituents know about Rachel Notley and her caucus’ stance on the pipeline.”
When asked if the messages are being sent to randomly selected numbers like a lottery, the NDP representative responds “Yes. If hundreds of thousands of people won the same prize. That prize being able to help keep Alberta’s economy strong…”
A spokesperson for the Alberta NDP caucus told MobileSyrup that the phoning and texting helps “Alberta’s NDP caucus engage with as many constituents as possible to gather feedback on priority issues.”
According to the same spokesperson, the phone numbers are randomly generated using a 403,780, or 587 area code.
“Like door-knocking, attending events, etc., this is just another method of outreach,” said the same spokesperson, in an email to MobileSyrup. “Albertans who opt-in to interact with our volunteers have the opportunity to ask questions and get information back through conversations with real people.”
The people on the other end of the line are actual volunteers.
Source: Global News
