Podcaster David Wallace at the United Conservative Party AGM in Edmonton in November.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
Two podcasters argued Wednesday that an Edmonton court went too far in allowing the seizure and search of their computers and phones after allegations that they harassed a potential witness in a high-profile lawsuit against the Alberta government.
For months last year, the two men, David Wallace and James Di Fiore, used their podcasts to mock and make reputational attacks against people connected with the procurement controversy at Alberta Health Services, the authority that delivers medical care in the province.
One of the people they targeted, Calgary businessman Sandy Edmonstone, obtained an extraordinary court remedy known as an Anton Piller order, which authorized solicitors to search the men’s devices and copy their records in a bid to find out who was directing them. The search was conducted in December.
First, there was Alberta’s health procurement controversy. Then the surveillance began
On Wednesday, Craig Alcock, a lawyer for the podcasters, appeared before Justice Michael Lema of the Court of King’s Bench to argue that the order should be set aside and his clients’ records kept confidential.
The result of the hearing is significant because Justice Lema has to decide whether to allow access to evidence that could reveal who has orchestrated the campaign of harassment and intimidation that Mr. Edmonstone says was targeting him.
Justice Lema said he aims to have a ruling toward the end of May.
In his representations, Mr. Alcock told Justice Lema that the search order, which was granted without notifying his clients, was “something incredibly invasive” that should have only been used as a last resort.
Alberta government takes aim at Globe reporter over coverage of procurement scandal
He said Mr. Edmonstone should have used other legal means, such as a defamation suit. “Mr. Edmonstone was not entitled to the nuclear option of an Anton Piller order.”
Jordan Bierkos, a lawyer for Mr. Edmonstone, read in court a series of profanity-laced threats that Mr. Wallace aimed at his client.
He said Mr. Wallace had explicitly said in his podcasts that someone bankrolled him and that he wanted people like Mr. Edmonstone to sue him so he could exhaust their resources. “They clearly wanted to use the civil litigation as a means of exacting financial harm on their would-be victims,” Mr. Bierkos said.
Mr. Edmonstone was an AHS board member at the time the government fired the authority’s chief executive, Athana Mentzelopoulos, in January, 2025.
In a wrongful-dismissal suit, Ms. Mentzelopoulos alleged that she was ousted after she wouldn’t wind down an internal probe into the way AHS awarded contracts to private vendors.
Former CEO of Alberta Health Services Athana Mentzelopoulos outside the Edmonton courthouse on Wednesday.Larry Wong/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Edmonstone has said in an affidavit that he advised Ms. Mentzelopoulos to speak to the RCMP and the provincial Auditor-General, who are now investigating.
The affidavit said the harassment began after Ms. Mentzelopoulos stated in a June, 2025, court filing that she wanted him to be a witness in her litigation.
“Mr. Edmonstone is not a politician. He’s not running for office. He has not made public comments about this matter. His only apparent sin is to be named as a witness by the plaintiff,” Mr. Bierkos told the court on Wednesday.
Mr. Bierkos said the podcasters weren’t merely commenting on a public matter. “By their own words and admissions, it’s more than that. It’s part of a concerted campaign to punish those involved on apparently the unfavourable side of this litigation,” Mr. Bierkos said.
The Alberta health care procurement controversy, explained
When court-appointed solicitors showed up at Mr. Wallace’s home in Gatineau to execute the search order, he initially denied them access to his electronic devices, arguing that he had been retained by a lawyer in Alberta, Bryan Ward.
Mr. Edmonstone’s legal team is now also pursuing Mr. Ward as part of their court application to uncover who directed the podcasters.
Arthur Hamilton, a lawyer representing Mr. Ward, told Wednesday’s hearing that Mr. Edmonstone’s allegations came with too many significant caveats to justify an Anton Piller order, “one of the most extraordinary remedies in the civil context.”
Ms. Mentzelopoulos has also filed an application to join Mr. Edmonstone’s court action, saying that she was targeted by similar intimidation attempts by the podcasters.
Arguments for her application were postponed as Mr. Alcock asked to be able to question Ms. Mentzelopoulos about the allegations of harassment outlined in her court filings.