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Alberta Justice spokespeople deliver duelling statements on prosecutor email review

Jan 27, 2023 | 4:09 PM

EDMONTON, AB – An Alberta government email review of whether Premier Danielle Smith’s office interfered with Crown prosecutors has taken a confusing turn, with duelling statements from two spokespeople on what was investigated.

Ethan Lecavalier-Kidney, a spokesperson for Justice Minister Tyler Shandro, has issued a statement that appears to call into question earlier comments made by Alberta Justice communications director Charles Mainville.

The review was ordered by Smith a week ago to respond to allegations in a CBC story that reported a Smith staffer emailed prosecutors last fall to question decisions and direction on cases stemming from a blockade at the Canada-U. S. border crossing at Coutts, Alta., last year.

The Justice Department said on Monday, January 23, 2023, that it had done a four-month search of ingoing, outgoing and deleted emails and found no evidence of contact.

Two days later, Mainville said in a statement that deleted emails are wiped from the system after 30 days, meaning the search for deleted emails may not have covered the entire time period.

Lecavalier-Kidney, in a statement Thursday night, January 26, 2023, said deleted emails could live in the system for 60 days and would have been available to investigators.

(The Canadian Press)

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