Environmental groups serve Kenney, Alberta government with defamation lawsuit

Five environmental organizations have followed through on a threat to sue Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and the provincial government for defamation.

Five environmental organizations have followed through on a threat to sue Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and the provincial government for defamation.

In documents filed Wednesday in Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench, the groups allege Kenney deliberately twisted the findings of a public inquiry into whether the groups were using foreign funding to try and landlock Alberta oil by spreading misinformation about its environmental impacts.

“There’s a line that (Kenney) crossed,” Paul Champ, lawyer for the environmentalists, said in an interview. “If you don’t hold him accountable on something like this, there’s really no limits for him.”

READ MORE: Environmentalists threaten Premier Kenney with lawsuit over Alberta inquiry remarks

In October, Calgary forensic accountant Steve Allan filed the results of his inquiry.

He wrote that he found no organized campaign of misinformation. Nothing illegal happened and the groups were merely exercising their free speech rights.

He found that while the groups did accept money from the U.S. to oppose oilsands development, that money amounted to about $3.5 million a year — roughly the cost of Allan’s inquiry.

READ MORE: Alberta public inquiry finds no wrongdoing in anti-oilsands campaign