David Wallace says he was hired by Jonathan Dennis to pick up the phone records of Alana Smith, a former Calgary Herald reporter now in the Canadian press. Wallace said Dennis told him he wanted to find out the sources Smith had drawn from a story about whether the size of Dennis’s wedding reception broke COVID-19 protocols. In an email from his lawyer, Dennis denied that he or his clients had spoken to Wallace. Wallace told the Canadian Press that Denis got his name from Alan Hallman and Gerald Chipeur, longtime conservative agents. “Jonathan called me (and) told me that at his wedding he felt he had been the target of bad news,” Wallace said in an interview. “He wanted to know what[Smith’s]sources were. “He wanted me to access the sources of my contacts using databases in private cell phone information communications.” Wallace said he warned Denis that obtaining phone logs could be illegal. “He basically said that this is just information that I collect for my own use.” Dennis was Minister of Progressive Conservatives in Alberta from 2010 to 2015 and Minister of Justice for the last three years. Recently, he was reportedly the organizer of Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre’s campaign for the leadership of the federal party. Wallace said he is taking politicians out of the straits to make a living. According to political co-ordinator David Wallace, Jonathan Dennis got his name from Alan Hallman, pictured, and Gerald Tsiper, both longtime conservative agents. (CBC)
“I’m a repairman,” said Wallace, a former Ontario man now living in Calgary. “I can find things or people and I can massage and correct difficult situations.” Wallace said he had a 30-year career behind the scenes in politics. He spoke to the Canadian press because, as he said, they reached him. “I’m tired of being a tool,” he said. “I’m done.” Wallace also said he was concerned that his work could be used to intimidate people or undermine political dialogue. Wallace, who is not a licensed private investigator, said he was seduced in the West by promising lucrative contracts from people in Alberta conservative circles. In early 2021, he said, he listened to Halman. Hallman, whose relationship to Conservative politics in the county dates back to the 1990s, ran Jason Kenney’s 2017 campaign for the Conservative Party leadership until it was suspended for a year. At the time, Hallman said the suspension was related to the use of profanity in a social media post. He remains close to the Prime Minister. In 2020, he held a birthday party for Kenny attended by two cabinet ministers, said a guest who was there. His son, Chad Hallman, works as a civil servant for Alberta Health. “I got a phone call from Hallman asking me to talk to Jonathan’s friend,” Wallace said. “I said okay.”

Dozens of emails, text messages, bank transactions

Wallace supports what he says with dozens of emails, text messages, bank transfers, invoices and other electronic documents. They contain messages that appear to be from Dennis, but Dennis has not confirmed that they are his. The Canadian press could not confirm the authenticity of the emails and other documents using the accompanying data. However, some emails include people who are not involved in this story. The Canadian press contacted seven. Five confirmed that they had sent the emails and two declined to comment. No one said the emails were fake or altered. In the documents, a message that appears to have come from Dennis claims that the Calgary Herald received information about his wedding reception on January 30, 2021. He seems to be saying that the advice was an attempt to embarrass UCP lawmaker Mike Ellis, who was invited to the party. Ellis was then considered to be running for mayor of Calgary. The documents indicate that Dennis was trying to find the source of the advice through Smith’s telephone records. “She and the Herald are not the target,” he said in an email on February 13, 2021, allegedly from Dennis to Wallace. “I want to know who is pushing this.” A separate email the same day suggests that Wallace and Denis have reached an agreement. Dennis would pay Wallace $ 5,000 a month based on at least 20 hours a week. “How long do you expect to work on it before you achieve potential results?” asks an email sent the next day, apparently from Dennis. “Keep calm, it will not be a difficult solution,” Wallace seems to have replied. “People like those who do such things are always sloppy and leave a lot to be desired.” The emails suggest that Dennis hired Wallace on February 15th. “I’m hiring you after a recommendation from Alan Hallman, who says you have tangible results for him,” he said in an email that day, apparently from Dennis to Wallace. “With respect, I expect the same and I can send you a little more work if this research pays off. I have to let you know that one of your Calgary competitors told me there was no way it would work here. The brands are over. σου ». An electronic receipt Feb. 15 appears to show a $ 5,350 payment from Dennis to Wallace. An email sent two days later appears to show Dennis promising Wallace more work “if we can have any success here”. Documents provided by Wallace say the work did not last long. By March 20, a message supposedly from Wallace reported results. “Hello, I’m getting the mobile carrier logs from my source this afternoon,” says an email from an account that appears to belong to Wallace. “I will need $ 1,100 to cover the rest of the bill. If authorized, let me know and you can transfer me electronically.” The documents show that the payment of $ 1,180 from Dennis to Wallace was made the following week. Wallace said he falsified some of the information he provided to Dennis out of concern for the reporter’s safety. “The files are legal,” he said. “I just did not provide him with the legal telephone box regarding actual calls, hours and orders.” The emails seem to indicate that Dennis was initially satisfied. On April 11, someone says, “I may have a new file for you (Wallace). Talk to me in the morning.”

The tone changes

But in June, a new tone comes in. “I’ve been asking for backup documents on my subject for over two months now,” says an June 23 email, allegedly from Denis. “I paid you ‘good money’ for this report, but it’s useless to me without the backup documents. I have a lot more work to do and I can throw you in Calgary from me personally and from my contacts. However – I need this documentation.” Dennis’s attorney, Brendan Miller, said in a letter that his client was unable to answer emailed questions because that would force Dennis to violate his attorney-at-law privilege. “As Mr. Dennis is committed to his professional obligations, we can not meet,” Miller wrote. “If there was information being passed between Mr Dennis or his clients and Mr Wallace (which is not accepted but is being refuted), they would be subject to a privilege.” Miller does not specify which customer he is referring to. Ellis’s press secretary, Eric Engler, said Ellis had not hired Dennis for more than a decade and that he did not know or in any way participate in the efforts to obtain the journalist’s telephone records. Halman seemed to have retained his interest in Wallace’s work. In an obvious WhatsApp message on March 28, 2021 to Wallace, he asked if any phone numbers from previous messages were “in line with Jonathan’s research.” The documents include an apparent non-disclosure agreement that prevents Wallace from releasing communications between him and Hallman. Signed in April, it also barred Wallace from making derogatory remarks about Hallman and acquitted Hallman of any liability to Wallace. In a brief telephone conversation, Hallman declined to comment on Wallace’s allegations, but acknowledged that he knew her. “The guy is unstable,” Halman told the Canadian press. “I do not want any relationship with him.” Halman did not reply to a registered letter delivered to his office on March 25 containing a detailed list of questions. Wallace’s emails suggest that Hallman was not the only conservative agent who knew Wallace. A January 17, 2021 note that appears to be from Chipeur says, “The customer is very pleased with your previous assistance,” and then offers Wallace a contract. Chipeur was a lawyer for the Federal Conservative Party and helped merge the Progressive Conservatives and the Reform Party of Canada. He did not respond to a letter received by his office on April 1. These days, Wallace said, he is not interested in new contracts. He said he is tired of the job that compromises people and can bring them into dangerous situations. “I’m just tired,” he said. “I do not want to do this anymore.”