Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is publicly demanding an apology from the CBC over a report that claimed someone in her office had contacted the Crown's office to interfere with the case of people charged at the Coutts border blockade..“Last week, the CBC published a defamatory article containing baseless allegations that Premier’s Office staff had sent a series of emails to Alberta Crown prosecutors concerning charges related to the Coutts protest and other pandemic-related matters before the courts. The CBC admitted it had not seen any of the emails," said a statement from Smith's office Wednesday afternoon."“This article was then used and editorialized by the Official Opposition to smear the reputations of the premier, her office staff, Alberta Crown prosecutors and the Alberta Public Service."“The premier calls on the CBC to retract its outrageous story and, further, that the CBC and the Official Opposition apologize to the premier, Premier’s Office staff, Alberta Crown prosecutors and those in the Alberta Public Service, for the damage caused to their reputations and that of Alberta’s justice system."“The premier publicly campaigned for seven months on exploring ways to grant legal amnesty for individuals charged with non-violent, non-firearms, pandemic-related violations."“After taking office, the premier and her staff had several discussions with the minister of Justice and ministry officials, requesting an explanation of what policy options were available for this purpose. After receiving a detailed legal opinion from the minister to not proceed with pursuing options for granting amnesty, the premier followed that legal advice. All communications between the premier, her staff, the minister of Justice and Ministry of Justice public servants have been appropriate and made through the proper channels."“The CBC’s allegations and insinuations to the contrary are, once again, baseless.”.The CBC story caused an uproar last Thursday when it claimed a staffer had contacted the Crown. Smith denied all knowledge of any emails and vowed she would take action if someone did..CBC News updated the story it first published to note it has not seen the emails, but it quotes multiple anonymous sources who said they have..Smith took this past weekend to hunt for emails to the Crown's office..READ MORE: Smith launches hunt for Crown emails.“There’s 400 Crown prosecutors and I have 34 staff, so it’s going to take the full weekend,” Smith said on her Saturday Corus call-in radio show..On Monday she announced no emails were found..READ MORE: Smith will seek legal advice on pardoning lockdown charges during pandemic
