Munaf Mohamed KC

Direct Line: 403.298.4456

e-mail: mohamedm@bennettjones.com
Our File No.: 95667-1

April 2, 2023

By Hand Delivery and Via E-Mail: brodie.fenlon@cbc.ca

CBC / Radio-Canada
205 Wellington St. West
Room 4E301-B
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3G7

Dear Mr. Fenlon:

Re: Notice of Defamation – CBC – "Danielle Smith discussed COVID charges 'almost weekly'
with justice officials, according to leaked call", dated March 29, 2023 (the "Article")

We are counsel to the Premier of Alberta, the Honourable Danielle Smith. We write with respect to
the Article noted above and related recent CBC News articles and broadcasts, which transparently
seek to sensationalize allegations already fully addressed by the Premier and resuscitate a false and
defamatory narrative against the Premier, her office, Alberta Crown prosecutors, and the
administration of justice in Alberta.

You well know the Premier has openly voiced her concerns with charges related to COVID-19
violations. Consistent with those expressed concerns, in January, the Premier publicly accounted for
the appropriate contact that has occurred between her office and Alberta Justice Minister Tyler
Shandro and Deputy Justice Minister Frank Bosscha about these cases. The Premier has repeatedly
and publicly confirmed that the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service operates independently of
government and political interests, including in relation to COVID-19 related prosecutions.

Back on January 19, 2023, in an article entitled "Alberta premier's office contacted Crown prosecution
about Coutts cases: sources" (the "Email Article"), the CBC reported unsourced and unfounded
allegations of direct interference between the Premier's office and prosecutors, including that:

 In Fall 2022, a staffer in the Premier's office "sent a series of emails to the Alberta Crown
Prosecution Service, challenging prosecutors' assessment and direction on cases stemming
from the Coutts border blockades and protests";

 The Premier's conduct was "improper on so many levels – it's pure interference with Crown
independence"; and
April 2, 2023
Page 2

 Justice Minister Tyler Shandro and his staff "were not involved in the emails sent" and had
been "trying to reinforce the independence of prosecutorial decisions for months".

The CBC later revised the Email Article to admit that it had not seen any "emails". This was
irresponsible reporting by the CBC, presumably to sensationalize a political narrative.

In response to these serious allegations, Alberta Justice conducted a four-month search of all ingoing,
outgoing, and deleted emails and confirmed there was no evidence of any contact between the
Premier's office and any prosecutor about any COVID-19 related prosecution, directly contrary to
what your organization reported to the public. The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service also confirmed
that it "fully cooperated with the independent and comprehensive review of ACPS emails conducted
by the non-partisan Alberta Public Service" and that the review "found no evidence of contact between
the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) and the Premier’s Office regarding prosecutions." It
further noted, and we agree, that "continued suggestions of impropriety without evidence are not
warranted" and "[t]his unsubstantiated speculation harms the reputation of the ACPS" and
professionals who carry out their duties independently and to the highest ethical standards in service
to Albertans.

With the Email Article now demonstrably baseless, the Premier and her office demanded a retraction
and an apology from the CBC, including an apology to Alberta Crown prosecutors, for the harm done
to individual reputations and to Alberta's justice system. In another article dated January 27, 2023
entitled "CBC News stands by Coutts story despite statement from Danielle Smith's office", on behalf
of the CBC, you refused to retract the Email Article, refused to apologize, and refused to disclose or
corroborate the sources for the CBC's unfounded allegations.

Nearly two months later, apparently seeing a need to revive a manufactured controversy, the CBC now
again blatantly ignores the Premier's prior statements and recasts the harmful and defamatory narrative
of unlawful interference and deceit by the Premier and her office.

The defamatory nature of the Article is transparent. On its face, based on a phone call that the Premier
herself described to Albertans months ago, the Article states that the Premier has improperly discussed
specific pandemic-related prosecutions with "justice officials". Among other defamatory statements
and innuendo, the Article reports that the Premier and other Alberta officials have therefore misled
Albertans: "The call reveals that her conversations with top Alberta Justice officials about pandemic-
related prosecutions were more frequent and specific than she has admitted publicly" (emphasis
added).

At best, these defamatory statements (now repeated in countless other news broadcasts and
publications online and in print) baldly allege that the Premier has lied to the public about appropriate
contact with a Minister in her government about COVID-19 related prosecutions. At worst, the Article
as a whole implies that the Email Article has been proven right and that the Premier has politically
influenced individual prosecutions, but with not one "email" in sight, apparently through a conspiracy
on the part of the Premier of Alberta and her office with the office of the Alberta Justice Minister and
Alberta Crown prosecutors.
April 2, 2023
Page 3

These defamatory statements are known by the CBC to be completely false. As confirmed by the
Premier in the very phone call now newly leveraged by the CBC, the course of COVID-19
prosecutions is not a "political decision". The Premier stands by her previous statements and will not
allow the CBC to inaccurately portray her open engagement on an issue of public importance to
sensationalize a news story and further the CBC's agenda.

On behalf of the Premier, we demand that the CBC immediately:

1. retract the Article and remove it completely from publication on the CBC website and any
other related online platforms and broadcasts, including social media; and

2. publish an apology and correction online and in its news broadcasts (published in the first part
of the week with a similarly sized headline and online placement), informing readers that it has
no evidence of dishonesty or direct contact between the Premier (or anyone in her office) and
Alberta Crown prosecutors about any specific COVID-19 related prosecutions.

Should you fail to comply with this request by Friday, April 28, 2023, the Premier will take such
further legal action as may be advised. We hereby provide notice of our client's intention to bring an
action against the CBC, as may be required under the Defamation Act, RSA 2000, D-7.

Absent an apology, retraction and correction from the CBC, the Premier will not be commenting
further on this matter.

Yours,

Munaf Mohamed KC
MM:tb
cc: The Honourable Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta