Premier Danielle Smith maintains she has not interfered with the administration of justice but acknowledged Thursday that she has spoken to Albertans charged in connection with public health violations amid the COVID-19 pandemic and charged in connection with protests against pandemic-related measures.
At a news conference to talk about Ottawa’s proposed increases to health-care funding for provinces, Smith fielded questions related to ongoing criminal and Public Health Act cases related to COVID-19 public health measures.
“You know, I’ve talked to everyone who has concerns about some of the enforcement orders that are against them,” Smith said. “And I have told them the same thing that I have told all of you: that I’m awaiting to see the result of a couple of different cases.
“(I’ve told people) I’m taking the advice of my attorney general and that we’ll have to wait for the process to play out.”
One of the people Smith was asked about was Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski. He has been charged and is accused of encouraging truckers to keep blocking a Canada-U.S. border crossing near Coutts, Alta., last year.
Smith admitted she has spoken to Pawlowski about his case. When a reporter asked if Smith had spoken to the pastor in 2023, Smith did not answer. Closing arguments in Pawlowski’s trial were made last Friday.
“I have always said — I campaigned on it for seven months — that I would look into what the options were for amnesty and that I would look into what the options were on that,” Smith said. “And my justice minister came back and said that amnesty is not possible for a premier.
“The only role of amnesty is the Governor General in our country, the way our system works. And his advice to me was, having lost one case, the CM vs. Alberta case, that we were going to wait on the Ingram (vs. Alberta) case to see if there was some clarity in law. So that was the advice of my justice minister, and that’s what I’m waiting for.”
Following Smith’s news conference, Opposition justice critic Irfan Sabir said he was concerned by conversations the premier has had with people facing charges.
“The premier should never be speaking to the accused and prosecutors of ongoing cases,” he said in a news release. “Danielle Smith’s admission that she has done so is deeply troubling and reinforces our call for an independent investigation into the premier’s office for interference in our justice system.”
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Last month, CBC News reported that a confidential source told its reporters they had seen emails they alleged were sent from a staffer in Smith’s office to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, challenging prosecutors on their judgment regarding cases relating to the Coutts blockade.
Days later, Alberta Justice announced that an internal probe turned up no record of electronic communication between Smith’s office and the ACPS. The government department said the Alberta Public Service had undertaken a “comprehensive review of emails” in regard to the allegation.
On Thursday, Smith reiterated her position that the CBC story is “untrue.”
“I’ve asked for an apology and I still haven’t gotten it and I’ve asked for a retraction,” she said. “They gave the impression that me or my staff was calling around to Crown prosecutors, and that was not true.”
In response to Smith’s calls for an apology, CBC News has said it stands by its reporting.
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“I have always said that I was going down to seek amnesty,” Smith said Thursday. “I had always said my contact with the ministry has been appropriate and the ministry saw my public comments and what I campaigned on.
“There is now another case going through — Ingram — that looks at all of the health health orders and we’re waiting for that decision to come down. The case was heard in the fall and we’ll be waiting for the court process to play itself out… So that’s what the advice was that was given to me by the justice minister. That’s what I’m waiting for and that’s the reason why I have not pursued it any further. I’ve accepted the advice of my justice minister.”
In January, Smith announced she was no longer looking into giving pardons to people found guilty of breaking public health rules related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said she had been speaking with provincial justice officials about the cases, which first prompted some to raise concerns she was inappropriately interfering with the justice system.
Smith later offered different accounts of who she talked to and when about the matter.
At one point in January, she told reporters, referring to the justice department and Crown prosecutors, “I ask them on a regular basis, as new cases come out: ‘Is it in the public interest to pursue and is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction?'”
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At the same time, Smith said at the time she would allow the court process to play out. Later, Smith said she only had discussions with Justice Minister Tyler Shandro and his deputy attorney general about the matter.
“At no time have I communicated with Crown prosecutors,” said Smith later said in a statement. “My language may have been imprecise in these instances.”
–With files from Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press
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