“I was put in a corner where there were no good options.”
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Leaks to the media were scrutinized by the Alberta government’s lawyer as he began his cross-examination of Dr. Anny Sauvageau Tuesday.
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Lawyer Craig Neuman took aim at the decision-making process that led Sauvageau, the former chief medical examiner for Alberta, to provide three confidential documents to the CBC in 2014.
Sauvageau, Alberta’s top forensic pathologist from 2011 to 2014, is suing the Government of Alberta for $7.5 million, claiming her contract was not renewed because she stood up to political interference.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Neuman, recalling Sauvageau’s earlier testimony, said Sauvageau felt she had to do something to protect Albertans and the death investigation system. He asked her whether that was a primary motivation for her approaching the media, and because she could not think of another solution other than going to the media.
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“That is correct,” Sauvageau said to both.
She confirmed she had gone to the public interest commissioner with a complaint, before approaching the media. She was told by the commissioner’s office that it would take a while for her complaint to be dealt with.
“You weren’t prepared to wait for that, you felt you had to do something sooner?” Neuman asked.
“That’s one of the elements, yes,” Sauvageau said.
She had also contacted the auditor general’s office, and Neuman asked why she did not wait to see what the auditor general did before going to the media.
Sauvageau said she was told the auditor general was not accepting external complaints.
“So I was not even sure if they would do it,” she said.
Sauvageau said she also went to the RCMP because she had the understanding she needed to do so in order to go to the public interest commissioner. She said she made all three complaints on the same day.
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When why she did not wait for the RCMP to complete their investigation, Sauvageau said they were only asked addressing one part of her complaint.
“They would not address that I was being told I was not at arm’s length and independent while the Albertans were being told something else,” she said.
She said she also spoke with the Alberta Medical Association and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, but neither could do anything for her.
Neuman also asked why Sauvageau did not issue a press release or hold a media conference instead of approaching the media anonymously.
Sauvageau said she did think about it, but ultimately she hoped to preserve a relationship with the province which she did not think would happen if she went public. She said she chose the “least worst option.”
“I was put in a corner where there were no good options,” she said.
Sauvageau said once the CBC article was published, she expected the government to realize the seriousness of the situation and address it. A press conference, she said, could have been seen as undermining and in a fight with the province.
“I didn’t want a fight, I wanted the situation solved,” she said.
The wrongful dismissal trial is scheduled to last eight weeks.
