Lawyer wants officer dismissed for tracking Alberta minister in 2017
The lawyer for Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips is asking Alberta's Law Enforcement Review Board (LERB) to recommend a dismissal of an officer who photographed Phillips and didn't report the improper activity to a superior.
Last July, Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) officers Sgt. Jason Carrier and Const. Keon Woronuk were temporarily demoted after admitting to using their positions to watch Phillips and guests who had met with the then-environment minister at a diner in 2017. The pair admitted to tracking Phillips and taking photographs of her for personal and political reasons.
According to the disciplinary report, both officers were avid off-road vehicle riders and had concerns with the NDP's plans to restrict vehicle use in the Castle region. Phillips was serving as the province's environment minister at the time.
Woronuk followed the vehicle of a person who met with Phillips, ran a police check on the license plate and sent a screen capture of the results to Carrier and another member of the LPS. He then posted photos of Phillips at the diner to Facebook using a pseudonym.
Woronuk has since resigned from the LPS.
Phillips was granted the right to appeal the way LPS dealt with her complaints and how the two officers were disciplined. At Tuesday's LERB hearing, Phillips' lawyer Michael Bates argued that Sgt. Carrier knew what Woronuk was doing, yet failed to report it.
"It was his sworn duty to report the illegal conduct of his friend, but he did nothing," Bates argued.
Carrier's lawyer, Dan Scott, said that the sergeant took the initial picture of Phillips, but did not participate in following her or the person she had met with.
"We take great issue with any suggestion that there was a plan on behalf of anybody other than Const. Woronuk to follow anybody from the diner," Scott said Tuesday afternoon.
Bates is also asking for the LERB to recommend mandatory ethics and professional responsibility training for officers.
"Like any member of the public, it is okay to hold opinions and views but, unlike an ordinary member of the public, a police officer acting in his official capacity must be, and must be seen as being politically neutral," Bates told the LERB.
"A police officer should never use their office as a means to advance their personal agenda," he said.
Phillips attended the LERB's hearing virtually, but did not speak. Her office declined an interview request. The Lethbridge Police Service says it will not comment while the matter is ongoing.
There is no word exactly when the LERB's decision will be issued.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Maximum payout for LifeLabs class-action drops from $150 estimate to $7.86
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.