Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s office issued a statement saying she used “inaccurate” language after two occasions when she said she contacted Crown prosecutors.
Speaking to reporters Thursday in Edmonton, Smith said she asked Crown prosecutors about charges related to COVID-19 health violations.
“We have an independent Department of Justice and independent Crown Prosecution Service and I have asked them to look at all allegations under the lens of ‘is it in the public interest to prosecute?’
“I regularly ask them when new cases come up, is it in the public interest to prosecute and is there a reasonable likelihood of a conviction?”
Smith made similar remarks last month. In an interview with Rebel News about the COVID-related charges, Smith said he continues to ask questions about whether prosecutions related to public health orders are in the public interest.
“I put it to the prosecutors and asked them to review the cases with those two things in mind,” she said in an interview published on the Rebel News website on Dec. 23.
In a new statement released Friday, Smith said she spoke with Attorney General Tyler Schandro and deputy attorney general, not Crown prosecutors as she previously said.
“I have never communicated with Crown prosecutors.
Premier Danielle Smith said she had spoken with Attorney General Tyler Shandro, pictured, and the Deputy Attorney General. She said she had not spoken to Crown prosecutors. (Todd Corroll/The Canadian Press)
“While my language may have been imprecise in these cases, I was mindful of the process and discussions above and the advice I received from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General.”
Smith said she has asked Shandro and his deputy to explore what options are available regarding the outstanding cases related to COVID.
“They have advised me that Crown prosecutors will make their own decisions whether or not to proceed with cases related to COVID, based on their assessment of whether there is a reasonable chance of a conviction and whether it is in the public interest,” she wrote in the submission by email statement.
“I respect this independent process.”
“A really, really big problem,” says Nenshi
Speaking to the Calgary Eyeopener on Friday, former Calgary mayor Naheed Nancy said Smith’s comments were “very serious.”
He said if Smith talked to prosecutors, it would be judicial interference.
“If in fact, as the Prime Minister’s Office statement says, she never spoke to anyone or never spoke to any prosecutors about this … she shows a pattern of, if you’re being polite, exaggerating; if you’re less polite, she’s lying about the conversations she’s had.”
- LISTEN | Former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nancy says Alberta Premier Daniel Smith’s comments are very serious:
Calgary Eyepener 10:27 Nenshi and Farkas on Alberta politics
Danielle Smith has been accused of political interference in relation to the prosecution of people who have broken the rules on COVID-19. Our political panel weighs in.
Nenshi pointed to the vaccination mandate at the Winter Arctic Games as an example. In November, Smith said she asked the Games to drop the vaccine requirement in response to the committee’s funding request, but said the president of the organization this was false, disputing the idea that the Games’ vaccination policy was reversed in exchange for funding.
Nenshi added that if Smith is discussing prosecution with Schandro, while legal, it resembles the dispute between SNC and Lavalin that put Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in trouble in 2019.
Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion found Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act by trying to influence then-Justice Minister Jodi Wilson-Raybould to reverse a decision not to grant a deferred prosecution agreement to the engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.
“Citizens can really ask themselves, even if it is legal, whether it is appropriate for the Prime Minister to put pressure on the officers of the court, and in this case in particular the Deputy Attorney General, who is the senior civil servant in charge of the judiciary, with her opinion on how they should apply the law?” asked Nenshi.
On Thursday, the Alberta NDP called for an independent investigation into Smith’s interactions with Crown prosecutors.
Add Comment