Edmonton woman charged in connection with threats made against public health officials, politicians

Nearly five months after Health Canada reported to Alberta RCMP it had received threatening emails, police announced Friday that a 41-year-old Edmonton woman has been charged.

“This investigation was lengthy and involved a number of investigative steps that included interviews, a search warrant and forensic examination of digital evidence by the RCMP’s Digital Forensic Services,” police said in a news release.

“This investigation led to the discovery of hundreds of emails — a number of which were identified as threatening in nature.”

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According to the RCMP, the emails were sent between Nov. 12, 2020 and Oct. 13, 2021.

While police said Health Canada told them of emails “directed at an employee of the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as a number of other recipients,” the investigation also unearthed emails sent to Alberta MLAs and “a number of news media outlets.”

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Police, who noted the investigation was carried out by the Alberta RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, did not provide details about the alleged threats or what is believed to have prompted them.

Maria Galbova has been charged with three counts of uttering threats, three counts of harassing communications and two counts of intimidating a justice participant.

Galbova is scheduled to appear in court on May 9.