Alberta premier apologizes for call to justice minister about street preacher charges

Premier Danielle Smith apologized in the legislative assembly Tuesday for contacting former Justice Minister Tyler Shandro in January about the criminal charges faced by Calgary street preacher Artur Pawlowski. 

"Although I had no ill intent, the ethics commissioner found it was improper for me to contact the minister of justice in the way I did, and I apologize to all members of the assembly and to all Albertans for the error," Smith said. 

Smith's apology came on the first day of the 31st legislative assembly. MLAs met for the first time since the May 29 election to choose a speaker, deputy speaker and deputy clerk of committees. The house is now adjourned until the end of October. 

In her report released May 18, Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler found Smith contravened the Conflicts of Interest Act by talking to Shandro about Pawlowski's case. 

In her brief remarks in the assembly, the premier said she planned to adopt Trussler's recommendation to train new MLAs on the structure of Canadian government and the roles of the three branches of government. 

She said Mickey Amery, Alberta's new justice minister and solicitor general, is preparing guidelines for how she can get legal advice from him appropriately. 

NDP Opposition leader Rachel Notley said Smith's apology missed the mark. 

"It was profoundly underwhelming and completely irrelevant to this issue," Notley told reporters." You don't get to apologize your way out of breaking the law."

Notley sent a letter to Curtis Zablocki, deputy commissioner and commanding officer for the RCMP K Division in Alberta, on Tuesday asking police to open a criminal investigation into Smith's call to Shandro. 

The government maintains the matter is closed now that the ethics commissioner concluded her investigation.

The NDP argues the Conflicts of Interest Act limits what Trussler can investigate so more needs to be done. 

Trussler did not make any recommendations in her report about sanctions against Smith but said she reserved the right to make them once the legislative assembly was back in session. 

Shandro lost his Calgary-Acadia seat to NDP candidate Diana Batten by 25 votes. A judicial recount is underway this week at Shandro's request to confirm the results. 

Pawlowski was found guilty of mischief on May 2 for encouraging truckers last year to continue blocking the border crossing at Coutts.