Madeline Smith · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 20, 2025 6:17 PM EST | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

The association that represents Alberta prosecutors says a lack of answers about why two of Edmonton’s top Crowns are suddenly off the job has left a “backdrop of uncertainty” looming over their work.

Scott Niblock and Ryan Abrams are both no longer with the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS), according to a Tuesday statement to CBC from Alberta Justice communications director Graeme McElheran.

Niblock had been Edmonton's Chief Crown prosecutor, and Abrams was the assistant chief.

“No comment will be provided on matters that relate to private human resources information,” McElheran said.

The Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association (AACA) issued its own statement Thursday, saying the group doesn’t know the reasons for the “unexpected” departures but added it has had a “significant detrimental impact” on prosecutors across the province.

“The recent actions of the government highlight the need for our members to have employment protections that insulate them from losing their employment without articulated cause,” the statement says.

“Without this protection, Crown prosecutors are susceptible to being dismissed from their employment for improper reasons.”

At the legislature on Thursday, Justice Minister Mickey Amery said there was "no government involvement whatsoever" in the senior Crowns' departures. He said Dale McFee, the former Edmonton police chief who is now head of the Alberta Public Service, also "had absolutely nothing to do" with it.

"We have a new acting assistant deputy minister in that office currently. That assistant deputy minister has a vision for the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, and she’s putting that vision into effect," Amery said.

The ACAA says prosecutors must be able to make decisions free from political or external influences to ensure a fair and transparent justice system.

The voluntary association says it plans to advocate for a more transparent employment relationship between prosecutors and the government.

“The current backdrop of uncertainty and the lack of transparency create challenges for our members in fulfilling their role of making fair, principled and legally correct decisions in an independent manner.”

With Niblock gone, Claudette Hargreaves has been appointed as acting chief Crown prosecutor, according to McElheran. He said there are seven deputy chief Crown positions in the Edmonton office.

Independence raised again

The issue of prosecutorial independence in Alberta made headlines earlier this fall when the Edmonton Police Service publicly criticized a manslaughter plea agreement for a woman who admitted to killing an eight-year-old girl.

Just days before the plea was presented in court, EPS lawyer Megan Hankewich sent a letter to then-assistant deputy minister of justice Kimberley Goddard, asking her to intervene. The letter was also made public.

It said that allowing the plea to proceed would “bring the administration of justice into disrepute and constitute a significant miscarriage of justice.” Hankewich also warned if the agreement went ahead, EPS would make “significant information” about the investigation public.

At the time, Hankewich wrote that an eight-year sentence was part of the plea agreement but there wasn’t a sentencing submission heard in court.

The woman in the case, whose name remains covered by a publication ban, is scheduled to begin a sentencing hearing in late February.

Goddard is no longer in the deputy minister role after being named a judge in the Red Deer Court of Justice at the end of October.

Her appointment to the bench took effect Monday, according to a government announcement.

Lawyer Elizabeth Wheaton is currently assistant deputy minister of justice “as the recruitment to fill that role is currently underway,” McElheran said.