It’s been a remarkably bad few days for Jonathan Denis, once Alberta’s justice minister and attorney general and nowadays a fixture in provincial and federal Conservative circles here in Wild Rose Country.
Mr. Denis was found guilty of criminal contempt by a Court of Queen’s Bench justice yesterday for threatening to sue the plaintiff in a wrongful-dismissal civil trial for her testimony.
Given the circumstances, political advisors to prominent figures in Alberta’s United Conservative Party and the federal Conservative Party must be watching Mr. Denis’s very bad week with deep concern.
The saga started last Friday, when media reported how a letter sent on Mr. Denis’s behalf by another lawyer at his Calgary firm had been interpreted as a threat to launch a defamation suit against plaintiff Anny Sauvageau, Alberta’s former chief forensic pathologist, for her testimony in her suit seeking $7.6 million in damages for wrongful dismissal in 2014, when Mr. Denis was Justice Minister.
Although Mr. Denis is not named in her suit, the letter claimed Dr. Sauvageau “has engaged in a seven-year campaign of defamation and harassment as against Mr. Denis.
“We have been closely watching Dr. Sauvageau’s current trial and are aware that … Dr. Sauvageau’s defamation of Mr. Denis has continued unabated,” it continued. “Mr. Denis is a respected and renowned lawyer and business person and will not tolerate these tortious actions against him. These actions must forthwith cease and we reserve the right to refer to this correspondence should Dr. Sauvageau’s defamation continue.”
By leaving the impression he was threatening Dr. Sauvageau with almost everyone in the courtroom – including Madam Justice Doreen Sulyma, as it turned out — Mr. Denis’s letter brought the trial to a standstill.
The ability of courts to conduct fair trials depends on the right of witnesses to be immune to lawsuits for their testimony. The principle of absolute privilege for honest testimony is not some esoteric bit of legal ephemera, but a pillar of the rule of law understood by pretty well everyone, even journalists.
While Mr. Denis’s lawyer argued the letter had been misunderstood and the former chief medical examiner’s counsel called it “intimidation,” Justice Sulyma said she’d never encountered such a thing in 25 years on the bench and as many years in private practice.
So on Monday, she said she would ponder the matter until yesterday, when she would return to court and rule on Mr. Denis’s conduct.
Meanwhile, also Monday, the Canadian Press published a story quoting a “political fixer” with ties to several high-profile Alberta Conservative operatives saying Mr. Denis had hired him to get the phone records of a journalist to find out who her sources were for a story that said COVID-19 protocols had been broken at the lawyer’s wedding reception.
The CP story, which featured a Who’s Who of United Conservative Party operatives in bit parts, made it sound as if David Wallace was acting as an unlicensed private detective specializing in political mischief. Mr. Denis denied he had spoken to Mr. Wallace.
Yesterday, Justice Sulyma returned to her courtroom and pronounced Mr. Denis, now a prominent Calgary lawyer in private practice, guilty of contempt for the letter. “I find that the intention exhibited was to obstruct her testimony and the trial process itself,” she said.
Everyone is expected to be back in court a week from today to set the dates on which Justice Sulyma will determine Mr. Denis’s penalty and assign costs.
Since the Criminal Code leaves it up almost entirely up to judges to decide what to do about contempt, Mr. Denis could face a serious fine or even jail time. Meanwhile, he has indicated he will appeal the judge’s ruling. So this drama is bound to be around for a while yet.
This likely makes UCP political strategists quite nervous.
The situation has already drawn comment about the recent problems faced by two of Mr. Kenney’s justice ministers. Kaycee Madu, now labour minister, was shuffled out of the portfolio after he called the Edmonton police chief last spring about a traffic ticket in an attempt to influence the administration of justice. Tyler Shandro, shuffled in to replace Mr. Madu, faces a Law Society investigation of allegations he harassed a couple of critics in 2020.
Still, at least from the UCP’s perspective, Mr. Shandro’s and Mr. Madu’s troubles seem like small beer compared to Mr. Denis’s current problem.
Plus, from the perspective of the UCP, there’s something to be said for any story that distracts from Premier Jason Kenney’s troubles with his own party and his personal unpopularity with Alberta voters.
As for the federal Conservatives, no one is now about to forget that until recently Mr. Denis was a volunteer for leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre’s Alberta campaign or that in the 2000s the men founded a political communications company and together ran a Calgary real estate investment firm.
One imagines a lot of Conservatives would be delighted if these stories would just go away.
Mr. Denis joined premier Ed Stemach’s Progressive Conservative cabinet as housing minister in 2010 and was made solicitor general and minister of public security immediately after Alison Redford was sworn in as premier in 2011. He became minister of justice and attorney general soon after Ms. Redford’s PCs won the 2012 election.
He resigned from cabinet in 2015 shortly before the provincial election after allegations about his private life, which a court later ruled were unfounded, became public during legal proceedings with his former wife, from whom he was estranged.
He was defeated in his Calgary-Acadia riding in the 2015 general election by New Democrat Brandy Payne, who was treated by Conservative activists as if she were not up to the job because of her work as the owner and manager of a yoga studio.
She turned out to be a capable MLA, however, and in 2016, NDP Premier Rachel Notley appointed her associate minister of health, with responsibility for implementing recommendations of a review of mental health services and responding to the opioid crisis.
Mr. Shandro has represented the riding since the UCP won power in 2019.
I just don’t understand why Albertans continue to support these crooked politicians. These pretend conservatives and Reformers only help themselves, and they don’t care about Albertans at all. What does it take for Albertans to learn their lesson? It’s amazing how gullible they are.
Modern conservatives have childlike minds.
Anonymous watching these ignorant seniors giving their new hero Pierre Poilievre a standing ovation for promising to destroy the lives and careers of thousand of young Canadians by gutting the CBC proves just how stupid they are. This is the same fool who praised the truckers for creating the mess in Ottawa that has cost taxpayers $36 million we are told and he doesn’t care.
While his pal Jason Kenney promises to cut 11,000 health care jobs proving what we have known for sometime Reformers destroy jobs and don’t create them. You would think these stupid seniors would understand it but they don’t. I got beat up recently in the Calgary herald for daring to tell these fools the truth. They can’t handle the truth, they aren’t man enough.
Alan K. Spiller: It’s a shame how these seniors brainwash the younger generations to support these pretend conservatives and Reformers. They fall for every lie they are told.
It just comes down to red team v blue team. Most folks are looking to belong to a group, they’re not looking at politics or economics as the determiner of our fates. It concerns me, again, that you think there are some “real” reformers out there waiting in the wings to rescue the conservative movement in Alberta.
This is the conservative movement. When folks *repeatedly* tell you who they are; believe them.
There are many people where I live (rural, hyper-conservative) who do not seek out this information, so if it’s not easily accessed, it’s not being heard/read. They are unaware of most of the political crookedness unless it applies to Trudeau or the Liberals/NDP. They are unaware of party platforms and really don’t care (even if it affects their quality of life or their job or their family’s needs). This is not going to change in my area, including people who work in the public sector and consistently shoot themselves in their own feet. They will only vote for and support conservative parties.
Reaching as wide an audience as possible and exposing this information over and over and over again will be key in the next election.
This must be the sort of thing that makes the Consevative political elite very, very nervous. Power and intimidation works well, until it doesn’t and then it all explodes, all the skeletons start tumbling out of the closet and everyone flees.
Mr. Denis seems to have a somewhat checkered history, but despite all that still seemed close to many currently powerful Conservatives. Well, maybe not so close any more, but at the least this sordid mess will surely still throw some shade on their judgement of character too.
As for Mr. Denis, he will have to deal with a judge who is really not pleased about the disruption he caused to an important court proceeding, whether intentional or not.
A lot of powerful Conservatives will be uncomfortable and are surely hoping they won’t get dragged further into this sordid mess – private investigators, allegedly going after journalists. It is as if a rotten core might come to light. It is already a delicate time for them with the UCP leadership review vote and the Federal Conservative leadership race, which interestingly Mr. Denis was also involved with.
This reminds me a bit of the sponsorship scandal, when one bad thing after another tumbled out and it was all somehow connected. Voters sure don’t expect perfection, but they would like at least some integrity.
Lastly, lest we forget, there is still that ongoing RCMP investigation into the previous UCP leadership race. As all the skeletons tumble out, Kenney and crew musr hope Mr. Denis had nothing to do with that too.
I suspect that if enough dirt is uncovered by journalists, the RCMP will eventually feel like they have to release whatever their investigation has turned up, and if not, the RCMP will continue to suppress the truth. Sorry, did I say “suppress the truth?” I meant, “help Jason Kenney cover up criminal activity by running a sham investigation that does not release whatever information it discovers.”
If someone wanted to turn this saga of Alberta Conservative lawyers and their antics into a soap opera, what would it be called? “Harper’s Valley”?
I can’t wait to hear Dr. Anny Sauvageau’s testimony now.
My vote is for, “As the world burns.” Climate change reference and also a reference to conservatives’ collective decision to pillage their own dwindling reserves of moral capital (and Canadian institutions such as Elections Canada, the RCMP, etc) in the name of expediency.
I have been following Jonathan Denis’ adventures this week with interest, David, thanks for writing about it.
As I have read about Mr. Denis’ rather pathetic attempts to weasel out of the trouble he had gotten into, all the while accepting full responsibility for the problem of course, I did wonder if the real reason Judge Sulyma found Denis guilty of contempt was simply because she thought Denis was insulting her intelligence. A junior associate sent the letter without any authorization from above? The letter referred to comments Dr. Sauvageau made to the media? (The judge rejected that one).
Mr. Denis intends to appeal the ruling, even though he accepts full responsibility.
Not being a lawyer, I ask the following question. The junior who wrote the letter on behalf of Mr. Dennis apologized to the court. Did he do this out of necessity or was he actually sorry? Could he be charged in contempt of court for writing the letter on Mr. Denis’ behalf.
What we don’t know allows lawyers to exist at all, let alone help their wealthy clients get away with blatantly illegal activity. Your question is a really good one – Mr. Denis is a trained lawyer and was MoJ, his lawyer was also a trained lawyer, both of them ought to have known full well that their actions were illegal. I understand that “ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking the law,” but what about, “being a professional interpreter and explainer of the law is not permission to break the law,” or even, “to those who have been given much, much is expected.”
Recent events in Alberta’s CON dark comedy reminded me of two events that I attended. One was from my distant past, and the other from my more intriguing present.
In the early 1990s, just prior to the ill-fated federal election that forever destroyed anything that looked like progressive conservatism in Canada, I attended a meeting in my then riding of Edmonton-Strathcona. That riding’s PC MP, the late Scott Thorkelson, held an event to pump up the local PC association. At the time, I was flirting somewhat with the RPC, so I was interested in seeing what was happening on the other side of the political fence. What I found was both hilarious and maddening all at once.
I entered the largest room in a local community hall and encountered the Tories. They were small in number, however. Considering that it was a Tuesday night (then known as cheap movie night) the small crowd was understandable. And it may also have been a matter that the Mulroney government was so vilified in Alberta, by Presto Manning. Anyway, the meeting’s special guest was none other than Garth Turner, CON wunderkinder from Ontario and a “capitalist genius”.
When I signed in, I was asked if I wanted to buy a membership. I politely said that I am waiting to see what unfolds during the meeting. But I did give the registar my address if the association wanted to follow up. (More on that later)
The meeting began in earnest, with the Pledge of Allegiance and O’Canada. (I lip-synced to both.) Once the association’s business was out of the way, Garth Turner stepped up to speak his wisdom and promote the defense of conservative values. He derided the enemies of Canada (both the LPC and the RPC) and a full-throated defense of Brian Mulroney’s leadership. What struck me was there was a whole lot of conspiracy chatter than went down. Turner could be considered a Qanon adherent before there was even 8chan and Alex Jones was barely a whisper on the weirder places on the Usenet. I left the meeting feeling, well, weird.
Fast forward to a recent event: Skippy Pollivere’s return to Alberta, to promote his own version of an RPC revival meeting. (That’s the best way to describe their events) I attended the Edmonton event and found a packed room. As I scanned the room I saw the same group that I saw when I attended those RPC events. Everyone, in the room was old, white, and really angry. Angry at what? Skippy would tell them.
Pollivere went on to blame PMJT for everything, and I mean everything. Inflation? Justinflation. Crime? Justincrime. Poverty? Justinpoverished. War and crisis abroad? Justin…this and that. There really didn’t seem to be much of a grounding in reality from anything Pollivere said. The best part was the promise of “pipelines to everywhere”. That’s a nice little nugget c/o of Andrew Scheer and Jason Kenney, of course. (I could see Scheer creeping around the room as well, making sure that nobody forgot who he was) And Skippy pushed the economic solution of cryptocurrency as a panacea for all of Canada’s ills. (How it is was never mentioned, so oh well)
After Skippy’s Presto-fest, I thought about both those meetings and I came to the conclusion that the CONs are still pushing their crazy, though it’s a crazier form of crazy. Instead of Garth Turner, it’s now Skippy Pollivere, Canada’s own ‘Dwight Schrute’.
A dark comedy that gets darker still.
Just: The Pledge of Allegiance? DJC
It was a simpler time and there were simpler ways. In rural Alberta they bristle at O’Canada, so God Save the Queen has to have equal time.
It’s the Pledge of Allegiance to the Canadian flag. I remember it from school many years ago. It’s a kind of school yard spoken song, which I guess isn’t for children after all. The intention (I believe) was to mimic the ‘Pledge of Allegiance to the US Flag’ and I hadn’t heard it in years. Some attending oldsters knew it. Talking about it now, I feel very old.
Just: At Monterey School in Victoria, B.C., we didn’t sing O Canada because it wasn’t Canada’s official anthem yet, and wouldn’t be for almost a decade. We sang only God Save the Queen. Then we all had to recite the Lord’s Prayer. As far as I know, no one objected, not even the father of one of my friends who was an actual member of the Communist Party. Until you mentioned it, I have never heard of a pledge to the Canadian flag. While it appears to exist, there is nothing official about it. It seems to me to be a singularly un-Canadian screed, best allowed to languish. DJC
Kind of the same way that God Save the Queen should meet a similar fate.
I was in elementary school in Saskatoon when I first heard the Pledge of Allegiance and we had to recite it every morning. I can’t imagine whose brain child it was, but they must have hand only two brain cells working when they came up with that one. Anyway, it was a rhythmic piece that reminded of a rap song before there were rap songs.
Rituals come and go. I mean the British Royal Family abandoned rule by ‘Divine Right’ centuries ago, after one of their own discovered there was something more pervasive than the separation of church and state, mainly the separation of the head from the body.
As for the Canadian Pledge of Allegiance being said at that meeting of a now long gone PC association meeting, it highlighted that it was an interesting time to be alive. With constitutional debates were ripping Canada apart, the RPC was ripping up the conservative bastion in Alberta, Le Bloc Québécois was threatening to really become a potent political force, Mel Hurtig was promoting a weird alternative to the crazy called the National Party, maybe someone at the PC association sold the bright idea of one-upping with a long-forgotten ritual that few practiced with any seriousness. Scott Thorkelson was a desperate man, then, and desperate people do dumb things.
Just: While we’re on the topic of typos this morning, I noticed this: “… one of their own discovered there was something more pervasive than the separation of church and state, mainly the separation of the head from the body.” I wonder if you mean persuasive? Either way, it’s just excellent! A line I shall steal. DJC
This is indeed odd. There is a citizenship oath of allegiance to the Crown, that must be sworn by new citizens, and a similar one sworn by new public officeholders, but a U.S.-style “Pledge of Allegiance to the [Canadian] Flag”, I’ve never heard of. I expect someone made it up. Remember, too, we didn’t even have a flag of our own until 1965.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/canadian-citizenship/ceremony/oath.html
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/O-1/FullText.html
From the Law Society of Alberta. Web page: “For the Public”
“The Law Society is the independent regulator of the legal profession. We regulate in the public interest by promoting and enforcing a high standard of professional and ethical conduct by Alberta lawyers.” They don’t seem to be doing a very good job.
And further to my missive…the part about how my mailing addresses part a small role in the future of the PCs. Well, a very, very small role, I declare.
Some months later, Mulroney had stepped down and a leadership contest was looming. Kim Campbell was the heavily touted successor. I received a phone call from someone from the association asking for me to support Kim Campbell. Not sure what to say, I said was interested. It was then that the voice on the other end identified itself as Scott Thorkelson, the riding’s PC MP. Since the membership was five dollars, he said someone would be around to give me the membership. Now that I seemed to be committed to the Campbell Camp, I expected to pay for the membership. As it turns out, the membership arrived in the mail and I didn’t pay anything for it. I got a free PC membership. (My first exposure to political dirty tricks)
Who did I vote for? I can’t remember. Maybe it was Garth Turner.
I wonder how long I was on the list, years later, when the CA was devolving further into the CPC, there was another leadership election. In this one, it was Harpo, some other guys, and Belinda Stronach. I got another phone call from someone representing the Stronach Campaign. I was amused by this whole matter and said to the caller that I’d be willing to support Stronach if she called me personally. It was my hope that the whole matter would end right then and there.
I was wrong…a few days later…
RING!!
Me: Hello?
Caller: Is this ?
Me: Yes.
Caller: Hi. I’m pleased to meet you. This is Belinda Stronach…I understand you wanted to speak to me in regard to my positions…
Okay…okay. I’ll count this as a brief and weird brush with some sort of fame.
Just: Reminds me of my encounter with Jim Coutts in 1984. DJC
I must admit that the Belinda Stronach I spoke to on the phone was very pleasant, seemingly a far cry from her more public persona. You know, astoundingly rich heiress, breathtakingly beautiful, and never seemed to have worked ever because … why? She’s crazy rich.
I recall her voice had a tone of a mid-Ontario accent, so she clearly didn’t sound posh. Regarding her positions, I had no doubt beforehand that she swung from the right-side of Barbara Amiel, so I decided to amuse myself with a trick question…
Me: On the matter of same-sex marriage, what is your position?
BS: Marriage is a personal choice and, honestly, a human right. We love who we love, and the state and laws have no right to determine who shouldn’t and shouldn’t marry. That makes an unequal society…
Okay, I was struck by Stronach’s admission. Years later, when she was in Harpo’s government, it seems the crux of almost all her fights with Harpo and the other SoCONs was this very issue, even leading for Stronach to cross the floor to the Liberals. Such lofty moral reasons to act didn’t sound like Stronach, putting herself out there for marriage equality. But I recall that segment of the ‘Mercer Report’ where Rick Mercer spent the day with Stronach skating on the icy Rideau Canal. The same-sex marriage issue was talked about (for some reason) and Stronach admitted to supporting it.
Off topic, but it was ever so much fun being there at the hangar in Nanton during the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada, as Chris Hadfield flew Hawk One over the museum. Thanks to Jim Coutts and many others over the years who contributed to making that moment happen.
Abs: Including Uncle Fred. DJC
Frankly, I’m more interested in the punishment that will ensue – if any.
This is Alberta after all. A slap on the wrist is probably too harsh given his conservative connections.
Have to wonder if a member of the Alberta Law Society will lodge a complaint against Denis that leads to a disciplinary hearing.
His actions, all of them, bring disrepute on the profession.
And on the Government…not that Kenney or the UCP Executive appear to care a whit about integrity.
About 50 years ago I told a lawyer I thought most lawyers were nothing more than trained liars and much to my surprise he agreed with me. He stated especially the ones who become politicians their training makes them well suited for the job. I certainly agree.
Alan: Most of the many people I have met who are members of the legal profession are honorable, honest and hardworking. Indeed, the rules of their profession require honesty. So the reputation of their profession, in my opinion, is undeserved, probably the result of the fact that our legal system is by design an adversarial one, and so in every legal contest there is a winner and a loser, and hence, almost always hard feelings. There are a few untrustworthy lawyers, of course, but that is true of literally all occupations in all societies at all times in human history. DJC
“By leaving the impression he was threatening Dr. Sauvageau with almost everyone in the courtroom…”
Am I reading this correctly? It sounds as though he was going to get everyone in the courtroom to pile on to Dr. Sauvageau and give her a good hiding. Even in Jason Kenney’s Alberta, that sounds a bit much.
Lars: I wrestled with that sentence, but only for so long. I am usually writing these things in the wee hours of the morning, after all. DJC
Hi Just and DJC. What, no singing of The Maple Leaf forever?
DJC, it is fair to point out that lawyers are mostly honest and hardworking professionals who try to craft a fair resolution to conflicts. Many of them enter the profession with the goal of making the world a more fair place for everyone. I give you the example of David Kilgour, who recently passed away, as a champion of human rights.