As Alberta’s transportation minister prepares to unveil a passenger rail strategy this summer, freedom of information documents obtained by CBC News show that Premier Danielle Smith’s husband, David Moretta, was invited to three meetings in 2023 about passenger rail and its potential expansion in the province.
Some academics and a former cabinet minister say the invitations to Moretta alongside senior government officials, railway company representatives and lobbyists raise questions about preferential access to people in power and information about government decisions — though one says it does not violate Alberta’s conflict of interest rules for a spouse to attend out of interest.
Prompted by Smith’s interest in rail, the Alberta government is awaiting a consultant’s 15-year master plan for introducing passenger trains across the province.
Although the plan has not yet been finalized, government officials told attendees of three telephone town halls in late June that building high-speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary, and a high-speed connection between Calgary and Banff will be priorities in a 15-year passenger rail plan.
Transportation officials said the projects will cost the government tens of billions of dollars.
The longer-term vision also includes commuter rail from Calgary to some bedroom communities and from Edmonton to its airport, along with regional passenger rail to Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, and other mid-size cities.
Two of the rail-related meetings Moretta was invited to included information that, if released, could present a financial risk to the province or reveal confidential advice and deliberations by government, according to redactions on the documents released to CBC.
“What’s he doing there?” said University of Alberta law professor Cameron Hutchison of the invitations.
Hutchison, who has taught classes on conflict of interest, and has authored columns on the limits of Alberta’s conflict of interest law and whistleblower protections, said it is unusual for a politician’s spouse to be invited to a meeting about government business as a passive observer.
“He’s not part of the government, is not part of any … formal consultation agreement with the government. I just don’t see the role being played here.”
Smith’s chief of staff, Sam Blackett, said in May the premier invited Moretta to attend “a few meetings” as a person with “subject matter knowledge” about the public debate on high-speed passenger rail in Alberta.
“Premier Danielle Smith and her husband share a long-standing enthusiasm for rail as an efficient form of transportation for goods and people,” Blackett said in a May statement after former UCP cabinet minister Peter Guthrie raised concerns in the legislature about Moretta being invited to one of the meetings.
“They often discuss different ways expanded passenger rail services could benefit the province.”
Blackett would not confirm which of the meetings, if any, Moretta attended.
Moretta did not respond to a phone call or an email in May requesting answers to questions about his participation in the meetings. In response to a CBC request sent to Moretta in early July, Blackett sent a statement pointing to Moretta’s two decades of broadcast news experience, which included coverage of rail.
Asked at a June press conference in Calgary about Moretta’s participation in meetings, the premier said her husband’s advice has been useful.
“My husband’s an adviser to me, and that’s allowed because he’s married to me, so I can ask for his advice on anything I choose,” Smith said. “And he happens to have 25 years in media, much of it covering issues of rail. And so I asked for his advice as we had a multitude of different projects coming forward to seek guidance on the path forward.”
Smith said Moretta helped her understand that projects using different types of rail have to be integrated, or it could prevent subsequent stages from proceeding.
Project details
A consortium called Liricon Plenary has submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Alberta government to operate passenger rail service between Calgary and Banff. Liricon’s owners are Adam and Jan Waterous, who own the train station in Banff and the nearby Mount Norquay ski resort.
Their proposed Calgary Airport to Banff Rail project would cost an estimated $2.6 billion to build a second rail line from the city to the mountains, and require a deal with corridor owners Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway company.
On Sept. 26, 2023, Moretta was invited to a meeting with representatives from the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), documents show.
The documents state that the premier’s executive director, Rob Anderson, was invited.
CPKC spokesperson Patrick Waldron said the premier requested the meeting in Calgary to discuss the province’s interest in potential passenger rail service.
He said Smith attended the meeting, but would not say if Moretta did as well.
CPKC representatives provided an overview of freight railway operations and capacity in Alberta, Waldron said.
“There were no negotiations, nor was any confidential or proprietary information discussed,” he wrote in a statement.
Waldron said no agreement has been struck to build or operate a passenger rail line on CPKC’s right of way between Calgary and Banff.
Moretta invited to stakeholder meeting
Documents show Moretta was invited by email to an Oct. 11, 2023, meeting entitled, “Liricon Capital, Calgary-Banff Rail,” where Liricon co-owner Adam Waterous had sent an agenda and briefing notes to attendees.
Also invited to the meeting were Anderson and Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen.
Dreeshen would not comment to reporters at the legislature in May about the meeting. Blackett said his response for the premier stood for all of the government of Alberta.
A partially redacted email from Dreeshen’s chief of staff, Josh Bilyk, that accompanies one of the calendar entries for the meeting, says a proposal is attached for consideration.
“I had a quick discussion with Rob earlier and he is on the same page as us re: the funding,” Bilyk’s email says. The unredacted information does not specify what funding is under consideration.
Cabinet ministers swear oaths and government employee contracts usually include language attesting that they will keep some information confidential.
Blackett would not say if Moretta had signed any undertaking agreeing to keep government business confidential.
Waterous said in a May email that the $2.6-billion rail project has been pitched to governments for a decade, and representatives have talked to three premiers, six transportation ministers and numerous government officials about passenger rail.
Waterous said he does not remember meeting Moretta.
Former minister refused meeting
The meetings are one of several ethical concerns raised this spring by former infrastructure minister Pete Guthrie, who is now an independent MLA.
Guthrie resigned from cabinet in February over concerns about government contracting and procurement. He was later voted out of caucus by United Conservative members.
In May, Guthrie said while he was still in cabinet, he refused to attend one of the rail meetings with the premier’s husband, because he had “concerns about the appropriateness” of the meeting.
Guthrie said he was invited to a Nov. 8, 2023, meeting with Moretta and Dreeshen.
Documents obtained by a freedom of information request show a calendar entry for that date entitled, “Meeting with David Moretta and department,” but the rest of the subject is redacted. The document shows who is invited to the meeting, but no information about what it was about.
In May, Guthrie tabled an unredacted copy of a calendar entry for the same date and time, labelled “Meeting with David Moretta and department re: 30-year passenger rail.”
“I didn’t think it was appropriate to attend. So, I don’t know what took place inside of that meeting,” Guthrie told reporters at the legislature in May.
Lori Williams, an associate professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University, said the details of the meeting raise questions about why Moretta would be invited to a meeting where he had access to information that the government deems confidential and proprietary in the freedom of information process.
“It just raises lots of questions about whether someone, simply because of their relationship to the premier, has influence that others would not have,” she said.
Williams said a politician’s spouse attending a meeting concerning government business is “not something that is common” in Canadian politics.
“It’s just not the sort of thing that is typically done,” she said.
Williams said although politicians may discuss issues with their spouses privately, they must take care in sharing confidential information that is not intended to be public.
Premier says husband not a lobbyist
Guthrie said during the legislature’s question period in May that there are no rules preventing a cabinet minister’s spouse from lobbying the government.
He asked the premier if Moretta had ever registered as a lobbyist in Alberta.
The name Moretta does not appear in the province’s lobbyist registry records online.
“I’ve been tired of the rumours and innuendo and slander against my family that I’ve been hearing about for months,” Smith responded.
“My husband owns a restaurant. He has never ever been registered as a lobbyist because he has never ever lobbied any government, including ours. And I would ask for the innuendo and the slander to stop here.”
Blackett said in his statement from the premier’s office that Moretta has no connection to any lobbying firm and has never lobbied on behalf of any entity, rail or otherwise.
Guthrie said to Smith in the legislature that the meeting invitation “reeks of preferential access and concerns of influence peddling to the premier. Are decisions in your office being made in the public interest or to benefit the well-connected few?”
UCP government house leader Joseph Schow replied that it was “absolutely repugnant and disgusting” that Guthrie was using question period to cast aspersions on the premier’s husband.
Meeting concerns
Hutchison, the law professor, said a cabinet member’s spouse attending a government meeting out of interest isn’t running afoul of conflict of interest law.
Hutchison said the premier’s explanation that her husband is present because of his subject matter knowledge warrants skepticism.
“I’m not aware of anything that’s violating the law, but there’s certainly a potential for a conflict of interest if there is involvement that extends beyond just passive participation,” he said.
