Ethics Commissioner Starts Probe on CBC’s Allegations Against Alberta Premier Danielle Smith

Canada’s Ethics Commissioner has started an investigation into allegations that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith interfered with the administration of justice in a prosecution related to COVID restrictions.

“The Premier welcomes this investigation, is fully cooperating with the Commissioner, and is confident this examination will confirm there has been no such interference,” Smith’s office said in a statement April 10.

Smith has denied any inappropriate action following reports by the CBC alleging her staff emailed prosecutors directly in an attempt to gain amnesty for people charged with violating COVID public health orders.

An Alberta Justice investigation looked at all emails in the given time frame and announced it found “no evidence of any contact.” Smith has said that she contacted only the officials with whom she is permitted to speak on such matters, including the justice minister.

She was following up on a campaign promise to try to gain amnesty in such cases, but “what I discovered is that a provincial premier doesn’t have the power of amnesty,” she said April 2 during her weekly radio show, “Your Province, Your Premier.”

“It was appropriate. It was through proper channels,” she said. “I can only talk to department officials. I did. I raised the issue. I kept a campaign promise.”

The most recent CBC reporting focuses on a phone call Smith had with Calgary street pastor Artur Pawlowski. The conversation happened in January and he was set to appear in court a couple of weeks later on criminal mischief charges related to last year’s blockade in Coutts, Alberta. The blockade was in protest of pandemic-related restrictions.

A letter Smith’s counsel sent to the CBC says its recent reports “seek to sensationalize allegations already addressed by the Premier, and resuscitate a false and defamatory narrative against the Premier, her office, Alberta Crown prosecutors, and the administration of justice in Alberta.”

In the April 10 statement, Smith’s office said, “As a result of the ongoing investigation, it would be inappropriate for the Premier to comment on this further, until the investigation is completed.”

Marnie Cathcart contributed to this report.