(LifeSiteNews) – Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith has asked her senior justice minister to reflect if it is in the “public interest” to uphold charges against people who violated COVID-19 regulations.
In speaking with reporters last Thursday, Smith said Alberta’s courts are “independent” bodies that make their own decisions; nevertheless, she has asked Justice Minister Tyler Shandro and his deputy minister to consider charges under the “lens” of the likelihood of conviction.
“I have asked them to consider all charges under the lens of: ‘Is it in the public interest to pursue, and is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction?’ As we continue to see some of these cases go through, some of them get dropped, some of them fail, they have to consistently recalibrate,” said Smith.
She added that she asked Shandro and his team to ponder on a “regular basis, as new cases come out, is it in the public interest to pursue, and is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction.”
Smith made headlines last October after promising she to look at look at pardoning Christian pastors who were jailed for violating so-called COVID policies while Jason Kenney was premier.
“I can apologize right now. I am deeply sorry for anyone who was inappropriately subjected to discrimination as a result of their vaccine status,” said Smith.
READ: Canadian province says no way it’s returning to masks and lockdowns due to new COVID variant
The new premier also said she was looking into creating an amnesty program to those charged for breaking non-criminal code COVID-related rules under Kenney’s government.
The amnesty program, she noted, would seek to pardon – among others – those pastors who were jailed for offering their faith services in defiance of so-called COVID health protocols.
“As for the amnesty, I have to get some legal advice on that. So, I’ve already asked my staff to request advice so I can see how we would be able to proceed on that,” said Smith.
“My view has been that these were political decisions that were made, and so I think that they could be political decisions to offer a reversal, but I do want to get some legal advice on that first,” she restated.
However, Thursday’s remarks suggest that Smith will, for now at least, allow the legal system to work unimpeded.
“The way our system of justice works is we do have an independent justice department and independent Crown prosecutors,” she said.
As it stands now, Canadian premiers do not have the power to offer amnesty. Nevertheless, the province could introduce legislation that would allow it to set up a framework to pardon COVID-19 public health violations.
Thus far, some Alberta pastors who were jailed and charged for breaking COVID health dictates, such as Pastor Tim Stephens, have been acquitted of their charges.
Stephens, a Christian clergyman from Calgary, spent a combined 21 days in jail.
He was arrested at the request of Alberta Health Services (AHS) on a May 13, 2021, order from Alberta Associate Chief Justice Rooke, which allowed anyone who broke COVID rules to be arrested without a warrant.
Stephens was the third Alberta pastor jailed for defying COVID rules, which were all but scrapped by March 2022.
Alberta-based Christian pastor Artur Pawlowski was vindicated in court yet again last month after some of his COVID-related charges levied against him in 2020 for feeding the homeless and attending a pro-freedom rally were stayed by Crown prosecutors.
However, Pawlowski recently took a shot at Smith, saying she is “Kenney 2.0” because she has not yet offered jailed pastors any compensation.
RELATED: Prosecution stays COVID-related charges against Canadian Christian pastor Artur Pawlowski
Unlike her predecessor Kenney – who imposed vaccine passports, mandates, and lockdowns during COVID –Smith has vowed not to “create a segregated society on the basis of a medical choice.”
Thus far, she has flat-out refused to impose any mask or other COVID mandates on Albertans, despite pressure from some provincial unions.
Under Kenney, thousands of nurses, doctors, and other healthcare and government workers lost their jobs for choosing to not get the jabs, leading Smith to say –o nly minutes after being sworn in – that over the past year the “unvaccinated” were the “most discriminated against” group of people in her lifetime.