Danielle Smith found guilty of violating Conflicts of Interest Act

Contact with crown prosecutors

The first allegation came to light after an anonymous source told CBC that three emails had been sent by the premier’s office to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service in late 2022, challenging the crown’s assessment and direction on Coutts-related prosecutions.

Trussler said she spoke with all 44 crown prosecutors who had Coutts or COVID-19-related files, all of whom said that they did not receive any contact relating to their files from the premier’s office.

All 32 political staff members of the premier’s office stated that they had no contact with any crown prosecutors in relation to these cases.

Trussler wrote in her finding on the first allegation, “I found no evidence of such an email and I can only come to the conclusion, based on the evidence that I have, that no Crown Prosecutor was emailed directly about any of the cases. There appears to be no interference with the independence of Prosecutors on this level. There is no evidence that the Premier ever spoke to any Crown Prosecutor.”

Following the release of Trussler’s report, Smith said in a statement that she was gratified to see that the report found no evidence that she, nor anyone else tried to or did contact any crown prosecutors about COVID-19 cases.

“This confirms that the CBC and NDP have repeatedly lied to Albertans for months with false accusations stating that my office and I had done so,” said Smith. “Both the CBC and NDP should apologize and withdraw those false accusations immediately and publicly. They should also apologize to Alberta’s independent Crown Prosecutors and Civil Service for repeatedly questioning their integrity in addressing these matters.”

Discussions with Artur Pawlowski

The second allegation has to do with Smith’s alleged discussions with Pawlowski.

The commissioner said that Smith agreed to speak with Pawlowski on the phone as he is the leader of the Independence Party of Alberta. Smith had spoken to the leaders of other political parties in the past.

A text message setting up the phone call did not clearly state that the reason for the call was to discuss what, if anything, Smith could do about Pawlowski’s court case, according to the report.

A three-way call was held on January 6, 2023 with Smith, Pawlowski, and Dr. Dennis Modry. Trussler said Pawlowski recorded the phone call, unbeknownst to Smith and Modry.

Trussler said in her report that Smith was heard on the call making “multiple troubling statements,” including that Smith told Pawlowski she would make inquiries to crown prosecutors on his behalf.

Trussler adds that, when it became clear that the call was about Pawlowski’s upcoming trial, “She should have clearly told Mr. Pawlowski that she could not speak to him about criminal charges that he was facing and immediately terminated the call.”

While stating that it was inappropriate for Smith to be on the phone call with Pawlowski, it is not a matter covered by the Conflicts of Interest Act.

Talks with justice minister

The final allegation deals with whether or not Smith had interfered in the administration of justice by discussing Pawlowski’s matter with Justice Minister and Attorney General Tyler Shandro.

The report states that later on the same day that Smith spoke with Pawlowski over the phone, she called Shandro. However, she did not inform him of her call earlier in the day.

Trussler wrote in her report that, “[Smith] asked [Shandro] specifically if there was anything he could do about Mr. Pawlowski’s case. She wanted him to make it go away, although she did not direct him to do so. She was concerned about a press conference that Mr. Pawlowski said he was going to have and how bad the optics would be for the Party.”

Shandro told Trussler that he was asked to what extent he could get involved in a criminal prosecution. Shandro said to Smith that, while the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service is under his authority, he cannot get personally involved in files or speak to prosecutors, adding that there is a clear separation between his office and that of the prosecutors.

Trussler said, “In my opinion, Premier Smith contravened s.3 of the Conflicts of Interest Act in her interaction with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General in relation to the criminal charges Mr. Pawlowski was facing.”

Recommendations

Trussler made no recommendations with respect to sanctions against the premier at this time, but reserves the right to make recommendations once the Legislative Assembly is back in session after the provincial election concludes.

She did, however, make two other recommendations:

That all new MLAs attend mandatory training upon election about the structure of the Canadian government and the roles of the three branches of government.
That the legislature consider amendments to the Conflicts of Interest Act to provide for a stay on any ongoing investigations after the writ has dropped for a provincial election.

The full report from Trussler can be found on the website for the Office of the Ethics Commissioner Lobbyist Registrar of Alberta.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now

by David Opinko

Danielle Smith found guilty of violating Conflicts of Interest Act

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