Date of publication: 11 Apr. 2022 • 13 hours ago • 3 minutes reading • 16 comments Dr. Anny Sauvageau, former Chief Medical Examiner, at a roundtable discussion in 2014 on the Alberta Child Death Review System for Provincial Care Children. Sauvageau later sued the province after its contract was not renewed, claiming that the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office had been exposed to political interference. Photo by Shaughn Butts / Postmedia, archive
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Justice, presiding over an unfair dismissal lawsuit filed by Alberta’s former chief medical examiner, struggled with the future trial on Monday after a letter from the province’s former justice minister threw a key to the process.
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The testimony of Dr. Anny Sauvageau stopped abruptly on Friday when Allan Garber’s lawyer said she had received a letter from Jonathan Denis’s lawyer, citing an Edmonton Journal / Sun article detailing her testimony in court and threatening to sue for defamation. . Part of the letter from lawyer Kyle Shewchuk states: “We are following the current trial of Dr. Sauvageau and we know that… the denunciation of Mr. Denis by Dr. Sauvageau continued unabated. “ The letter also cites a 2016 report by the Alberta Public Interest Commissioner, which said Shewchuk considered Sauvageau’s allegations of political interference “unfounded”.
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This week, Garber said he had serious questions about why the letter was sent, as statements in litigation are protected from defamation lawsuits. “The most creepy thing, madam, is that I was told in this letter to advise my client to ‘govern herself accordingly,’” Garber told Justice Doreen Sulyma. “This statement, my lady, is, to be very honest and sincere, embarrassing. “Should I tell her to pay attention to what she said in this trial?” Garber added another witness he intends to call now no longer wants to testify because of the incident. Sauvageau, who served as Alberta’s chief medical examiner from 2011 to 2014, is suing the provincial government for $ 7.5 million, arguing that the province refused to renew her contract because she fought political interference in her office. Last week, Sauvageau testified that an aide to the Justice Department told her that her office was not independent of the government and that Sauvageau’s job was to make the minister “look good.”
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Dennis was Minister of Justice under the former Progressive Conservative government. He had previously been named as a defendant in the lawsuit, but the lawsuit against him was dropped and the Alberta government is currently the only defendant. Sauvageau’s allegations have not been substantiated in court. Lawyer Brendan Miller represented Denis in court Monday. He argued that the letter was not intended to target Sauvageau’s testimony. Instead, he said there were concerns that he made statements to the media out of court. In an affidavit, Sauvageau denies speaking directly to the media. She also said that the letter made her feel “intimidated and intimidated” and that she was afraid to continue the trial. She has not yet completed her deposition and will be subject to a cross-examination.
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Miller acknowledged that the letter was a “bad omen” for the trial, but said it was misinterpreted. “It simply came to our notice then. “He never intended to try to limit the testimony before this court,” he said. But Sulima expressed concern about what she called “problematic language” in the letter and wondered why, if the matter was perceived by the media, it would not be clarified. Adding that the letter’s timeline is “almost catastrophic”, he said he wanted to reassure both parties to the lawsuit that the trial could continue fairly, without any ill-treatment. The trial is set to continue on Wednesday morning, but first Sulima will decide whether to rely on Dennis for contempt of court. Miller said Dennis “wants to apologize to the court for the situation and take full responsibility for the misunderstanding that arose from the letter.” Shewchuk, who sent the letter on Denis’ behalf, also apologized, saying it was a “learning experience” as a new lawyer. – With archives by Jonny Wakefield [email protected] Twitter: @meksmith
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