By Canadian Press

Danielle Smith, Rachel Notley set for Alberta leaders debate tonight

May 18, 2023 | 2:43 PM

EDMONTON — On the same day Alberta’s two main election rivals were to square off in a debate ahead of the May 29 vote, the province’s ethics commissioner found United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith, in her role as premier, broke conflict-of-interest rules.

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A key issue in Marguerite Trussler’s report was a call Smith made in January to then- justice minister and attorney general Tyler Shandro related to criminal charges against Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski.

Earlier this month, a judge in Lethbridge, Alta., found Pawlowski guilty of mischief and other charges for his role in a protest over COVID-19 restrictions that snarled Alberta’s main border crossing into the United States in early 2022.

Trussler said a premier discussing an ongoing criminal case with an attorney general is not acceptable.

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“In the whole scheme of things, it is a threat to democracy to interfere with the administration of justice,” she wrote.

“It is the first step toward the type of judicial system often found in a non-democratic or pseudo-democratic country where members of and friends of those in power are shielded from prosecution or are acquitted by the courts on the instructions of those in power.”

The UCP campaign has also been dogged this week by remarks from a candidate in Lacombe-Ponoka in September comparing transgender students in schools to feces contaminating a batch of cookies.

Smith said in a statement sent by her party Thursday that Jennifer Johnson, if she wins the central Alberta constituency, would not be welcome to sit with the UCP in the legislature.

Smith said Johnson “used offensive language and a vile analogy when speaking about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community for which she has apologized,” Smith said in a statement Thursday.

Johnson has apologized, said she’s embarrassed that she hurt people and promised to do a better job communicating her concerns.

The debate in Edmonton between Smith and NDP Leader Rachel Notley is to begin at 6 p.m.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2023.

The Canadian Press