Alberta UCP leader Danielle Smith has not confirmed whether she will follow through on her threat to sue the CBC for defamation over its coverage of her role in prosecuting COVID-19 court cases. Smith had given the CBC until last Friday to retract and apologize or face further legal action. Speaking to reporters at her party’s election campaign launch in Calgary, Smith declined to answer when asked if she is still pursuing the case and if not, why not. The dispute centers around a CBC story alleging one of Smith’s staff sent emails to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service challenging how it was handling court cases from COVID-19 protests.
Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley has suggested Smith is hedging because she doesn’t have a case. “What it looks like to me is that when (Smith) was caught dead to rights attempting to interfere in the administration of justice on behalf of someone who was charged with, among other things, trying to incite violence against police officers, that she panicked — and then they decided to try a lawsuit,” said Notley. The call in question is between Smith and Artur Pawlowski, the head of the fringe Independence Party of Alberta, who is currently on trial for breaching public health orders.
While the legal action revolves around Smith in her role as premier, she has confirmed that it is being funded by the UCP, raising questions over who is making decisions on how the case proceeds. Smith’s conversation with Pawlowski is also the focus of an ongoing investigation by Alberta’s ethics commissioner, who is investigating whether the call violates the democratic convention that there must be a firewall to separate politicians from the day-to-day decision-making of cases before the courts.
Smith has since stated she agrees it’s not OK for politicians and accused persons to discuss active criminal cases, but has said her call to Pawlowski was OK because as a politician it’s her role to interact and hear from constituents and hear their concerns. She has also said she didn’t realize her call with Pawlowski, which took place in January, would be about his criminal case and that she thought she would be talking politics with him in his then-role as the head of the fringe Independence Party on Alberta. Pawlowski has pleaded not guilty to mischief and breaching a release order, as well as a charge under the Alberta Critical Infrastructure Defence Act of wilfully damaging or destroying essential infrastructure. A verdict is expected to be delivered on Tuesday in Lethbridge, Alta.