Alberta’s opposition leader says Premier Danielle Smith’s assurance of a thorough investigation into allegations of interference with Crown prosecutors is “an empty talking point” given new details on the finding itself.
NDP leader Rachel Notley said that the email search directed by Smith covered a period of four months, with any deleted messages being erased from the system after only one month, meaning the relevant time period for those emails was discounted. Went.
“It is outrageous that Danielle Smith is actually naive enough to think that Albertans would trust an internal investigation that has not been conducted transparently, conducted by people who answer to her, and which Only emails going back 30 days are considered deleted,” Notley said in Calgary on Thursday.
“It’s an empty talking point and nothing more,” she said, renewing a call for an independent, judge-led investigation into whether Smith and his office interfered with the administration of justice.
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Smith ordered an email review late last week after CBC News reported allegations that a staffer in the premier’s office sent a series of emails to Crown prosecutors detailing the Coutts, Alta., U.S. border blockade. His assessment and direction were questioned in related matters. In early 2022.
The CBC did not specify exactly when the emails were sent and said it had not seen the emails in question.
The RCMP have laid charges against a number of people involved in the three-week blockade at Cotts to protest COVID-19 restrictions. The charges range from mischief to conspiracy to murder.
On Monday, the Justice Department reported that a review of nearly one million emails – incoming, outgoing and deleted – over a four-month period found no evidence of any communication between prosecutors and the premier’s office.
However, Alberta Justice said in a statement to media outlets on Wednesday that deleted emails are only kept for 30 days, meaning a search of deleted emails would only catch those from after December 22 and probably Will not capture emails deleted during the time limit. in question.
Alberta Justices, along with Ethan Lecavalier-Kidney, who speaks for Justice Minister Tyler Shandro, declined to respond to requests Thursday for that statement or to explain why the statement is now being withheld.
Notley’s comments came a day after Smith faced a second CBC story, citing unnamed sources, alleging that she pressured Shandro and his office to intervene in COVID-related matters.
Smith reiterated in a statement: “All communications between the Premier, his staff, the Minister of Justice and public servants of the Ministry of Justice are made through proper and appropriate channels.”
In the statement, Smith also accused the CBC of publishing “a defamatory article containing unfounded allegations,” referring to the original email story.
CBC head of public affairs Chuck Thompson said in a statement on Wednesday: “We stand by the story that transparently sources allegations from credible sources and provides context to the allegations.
“As is our practice, we gave the premier and his office an opportunity to respond, and we included that response prominently in the story with a subheading.”
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Smith has given several versions of what he has said about COVID-19 cases to Justice officials in recent weeks.
Smith has not taken any questions at a general news conference with reporters since two weeks ago when he announced he was talking to prosecutors about the COVID-19 cases.
Smith has said that he spoke directly to prosecutors and did not speak directly to prosecutors. She has said she reminded Justice officials of general prosecution guidelines, but said at other times she reminded them to consider factors unique to COVID-19 cases. He has also suggested that talks are on and they have ended.
He has attributed the confusion to “impure” word choices.
In her statement on Wednesday, Smith gave a sixth version, saying she met not only with Shandro and the deputy attorney general, but also with other unnamed “ministry officials” to seek a legal apology for the “non-violent” charge. The possibility can be discussed. Non-firearm epistemic violations.”
The statement said: “The premier and his staff had a number of discussions with the Minister of Justice and ministry officials, requesting clarification of what policy options were available for this purpose.
“After receiving detailed legal opinion from the Minister for not pursuing pardoning options, the Premier followed that legal advice.”
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