Podcaster David Wallace at the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting in November. Mr. Wallace and James Di Fiore have been accused by Sandy Edmonstone, a former board member of Alberta’s health authority of disparaging and harassing him on their podcasts, court records show.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
A former director on the board of Alberta’s health authority says he has been subject to a campaign of harassment and surveillance because of his role as a potential witness in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit tied to the province’s health procurement controversy, court records show.
Sandy Edmonstone, who served on the board of Alberta Health Services until January, obtained a rare court order allowing him to search and seize records and electronic devices from two podcasters, David Wallace and James Di Fiore, whom he alleges have disparaged and harassed him. Those derogatory comments are part of a co-ordinated campaign funded by someone or some people, Mr. Edmonstone alleges. The search-and-seizure order is necessary, Mr. Edmonstone successfully argued, to find evidence showing who is bankrolling the podcasters.
Mr. Edmonstone alleges that the podcasts are designed to undermine him as a potential witness in the lawsuit former AHS chief executive Athana Mentzelopoulos filed against the health authority and the Alberta government.
In January, Ms. Mentzelopoulos was fired amid her investigation into improper procurement practices at the provincial health authority. She alleges that she was pressed to shut down the probe by Premier Danielle Smith’s government and urged to proceed with deals with certain private companies.
Athana Mentzelopoulos was fired amid her investigation into improper procurement practices at the provincial health authority.Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail
The government said it dismissed Ms. Mentzelopoulos because she failed to execute its vision for the health care system.
Mr. Edmonstone and the rest of the AHS board were dismissed by Ms. Smith days after she was fired. The board supported Ms. Mentzelopoulous’s probe and recommended she expand it and share the results with the RCMP. The force is now investigating the matter.
The podcasts produced by Mr. Wallace and Mr. Di Fiore have repeatedly disparaged Mr. Edmonstone, referring to him as “scumbag” and a “sicko,” he alleges. The court application also alleges that Mr. Wallace has made comments about hiring people to dig into Mr. Edmonstone’s life. In June, someone took surreptitious photos of Mr. Edmonstone and shared them via text message, he alleges.
Mr. Edmonstone alleges this campaign is connected to the targeting of Globe and Mail reporter Carrie Tait, who has been covering the controversy at Alberta Health Services and was also covertly followed and photographed in the summer.
Craig Alcock, a lawyer representing Mr. Wallace and Mr. Di Fiore, said his clients “are looking forward to responding to this matter in the Courts,” but would not comment further.
In addition to authorizing Mr. Edmonstone’s bid to seize records, Justice Michael Lema of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta also ordered Mr. Wallace and Mr. Di Fiore to appear before him for potential contempt of court.
Justice Lema said the two men need to convince him that they didn’t interfere with the administration of justice by “deterring, harassing, molesting, or influencing a prospective witness.”
The podcasts hosted by Mr. Wallace and Mr. Di Fiore have mocked and insulted people connected to the AHS controversy, including Ms. Mentzelopoulos, Mr. Edmonstone, Ms. Tait and MLA Peter Guthrie, who resigned from cabinet in protest of Ms. Smith’s handling of the issue.
On an Oct. 13 podcast, Mr. Wallace said that he “employed some professionals” to look into Mr. Edmonstone’s life. “Sandy, we have something real special for you planned,” he said.
In the court filings, Mr. Edmonstone said that someone followed him and took photos of him on June 13 and distributed those photos over text messaging. The sender threatened to share the photos with Mr. Edmonstone’s wife “in an attempt to cause personal strife and acrimony,” he alleges.
MLA Peter Guthrie resigned from cabinet over Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s handling of the AHS controversy.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
The phone number that sent those pictures was “associated” with a now-defunct X account called @thebrokedownAB, Mr. Edmonstone alleges. That same anonymous account had threatened in July to expose Ms. Tait’s sources and posted photos taken of her while she was secretly followed last summer.
The court order that Mr. Edmonstone obtained is known as an Anton Piller injunction, an exceptional measure that allows a private citizen or company to seize records from private property without the other side being notified of the hearing. Judges authorize such orders when they are persuaded that there is a possibility that evidence could be destroyed.
The order against Mr. Wallace and Mr. Di Fiore says that an independent lawyer would be appointed to supervise the process, that bailiffs and a locksmith could be called to assist, and that the items to be seized could include computer systems, storage devices and cloud-based accounts.
Mr. Di Fiore lives in Ontario and Mr. Wallace in Quebec, according to the court documents.
The order became public after the documents were unsealed Monday. The records obtained by The Globe do not indicate whether the residences of Mr. Wallace and Mr. Di Fiore were searched. Citing an e-mail written by Justice Lema’s assistant, The Calgary Herald reported on Tuesday that the order was served on Dec. 16.
The two men were also instructed by Justice Lema to remove all published materials that refer to Mr. Edmonstone within five days of receiving the order. Some podcast episodes that were explicitly identified in the court application are no longer promoted on the two men’s X accounts.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government says Ms. Mentzelopoulos was fired because she failed to execute its vision for the health care system.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
However, other podcasts remained online. For example, one episode that was still posted on Tuesday afternoon featured Mr. Wallace speaking directly to Mr. Edmonstone: “Sandy, you’ll be in jail or disgraced.”
Mr. Wallace has made allusions to having financial backers who he has not identified.
“I do have employers. I do. And those are people with the financial interest to make sure that the truth, the truth, no matter which way it cut, came out,” he said on Oct. 19.
On Oct. 24, he added that “I’m getting paid. I have three employers.”
In his application to the court, Mr. Edmonstone said the order he was seeking was necessary to unmask the “unnamed person or persons” funding the podcasts, who he alleged “have financial interests” in the health procurement controversy.
The work of the two podcasters was mentioned in the Alberta Legislature in November.
On Nov. 19, Mr. Guthrie, one of the people attacked by the podcasters, raised a point of order to complain that during Question Period that Ms. Smith had responded to his queries by repeating an insult used against him by Mr. Wallace.
“This was from a podcast with virtually no audience, which has been publishing serious threats and baseless accusations against myself; Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former CEO of AHS; and journalist Carrie Tait,” Mr. Guthrie said in the legislature.
“It is an extremely disturbing and well-funded operation. What is more troubling is that the Premier of Alberta has repeated talking points that originated from this source. I find it astonishing that the Premier would lend credence to an outlet that traffics in harassment and intimidation.”
At the request of Speaker Ric McIver, the government’s deputy House leader, Dan Williams, withdrew the remarks and apologized on behalf of the Premier.
In July, when Ms. Smith was asked about Ms. Tait being targeted by anonymous X accounts and covertly followed, the Premier said, “I condemn it.”
With additional reporting by Jana Pruden and Stephanie Chambers.