From mid-2011 to late 2014, Anny Sauvageau served as Alberta’s Chief Medical Examiner until she was notified that her contract would not be renewed for next year.

Anny Sauvageau sued the province for wrongful dismissal. He claims $ 7.6 million in lost income and benefits from his work. The trial began on April 1.

An earlier version of the lawsuit named Jonathan Denis as the defendant in his capacity as justice minister, but removed his name from it after he retired from politics in 2015.

A letter threatening to sue

Plaintiff’s attorney, Allan Garber, told the court Friday morning that he received an email letter from the attorney representing Jonathan Denis, Kyle Shewchuk. The latter is part of the law firm Guardian Law Group of which the former Minister of Justice was a founding member.

Allan Garber read a portion of the letter aloud in court. CBC/Radio-Canada obtained a copy.

Your client has been involved in a campaign of defamation and harassment against Mr. Denis for seven years, the letter states. We strictly followed the current test […] and they already knew the slander against Dr. Sauvageau […] continued without stopping.

The letter also mentioned that: Mr. Denis is an experienced and well -known businessman and lawyer. He will not tolerate torture acts against him. These actions must be stopped immediately and we reserve the right to refer to this letter in case the defamation of Drs. Sauvageau.

In response to the letter, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Judge Doreen Sulyma said she had never seen anything like it in her 50 years of experience.

According to him, this letter has not yet been done. The judge asked plaintiff’s attorney to file an injunction asking Jonathan Denis and his attorney to appear before him, in person, on Monday afternoon.

The letter mentioned that the company Guardian Law Group is investigating a defamation action against Anny Sauvageau and plans to take transcripts of this case to court.

Fear of weaving

Anny Sauvageau did not return to the witness box on Friday.

Alberta’s former chief medical examiner filed an affidavit in court on Friday, in response to the letter. In this affidavit, Anny Sauvageau asserted that she did not defame Jonathan Denis.

He said he was afraid to give evidence at trial, for fear of this warning.

I can’t afford to defend myself against a defamation suithe wrote.

The government was unaware of or involved in the threat of this lawsuit according to Craig Neuman, an attorney responsible for representing the province in this case.

There is information from Janice Johnston