Alberta Premier Jason Kenney hires lawyers over environmentalist lawsuit threat
The Alberta government has hired a private law firm to defend Premier Jason Kenney after environmental groups threatened him with a defamation lawsuit.
Paul Champ, lawyer for the environmentalists, says he's been notified that the province has retained counsel.
“(Kenney's) counsel advises that they will review the matter and respond 'substantively' in the near future,” Champ said in an email. “We fully expect Premier Kenney will get solid advice on this matter.”
The lawsuit threat was made in a letter to Kenney last month by eight groups who allege the premier deliberately twisted the findings of a public inquiry into their activities and funding sources.
That inquiry, headed by Calgary forensic accountant Steve Allan, looked into whether environmental groups were conspiring to landlock Alberta oil by spreading misinformation about its environmental impacts. The inquiry found the groups had done nothing wrong and were within their freedom of speech rights.
But the groups say that even after Allan's report was released, Kenney continued to falsely accuse them of spreading misinformation about Alberta's energy industry in public statements, social media posts and government websites. Specific documents are referenced in the letter Kenney received.
The groups allege those statements were intended to damage their reputations and credibility in the eyes of the public.
They are asking for an apology, the posts to be taken down and the websites rewritten.
A spokesman for Kenney's office has previously said they would “vigorously respond in court if and when necessary.”
The letter had given Kenney until Nov. 30 to accede to those demands before filing a statement of claim against him. Champ said the government's move to retain lawyers from outside government will delay that filing as Kenney's lawyers review the facts and advise their client.
“Assuming the premier follows this advice, we expect to see those posts taken down with an apology,” wrote Champ.
The Allan inquiry cost taxpayers $3.5 million.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.