Crown drops charge against man accused of threatening minister

The Crown has withdrawn a charge against a man who was accused of phoning the legislature office of Environment Minister Shannon Phillips and making a death threat over the province’s carbon tax.

Michael Enright, 54, of Camrose was charged in April 2016 with one count of making a threat to cause death or bodily harm.

Court records show the Crown withdrew the charge Feb. 13.

Enright said the charge was withdrawn after the Crown’s main witness and police failed to come to court. He said he had refused pre-trial offers to plead guilty and pay a fine.

Phillips is not named in the charge document. A member of her staff who took the call told police that a man, who didn’t identify himself, said “he was going to get his ammunition and gun and come here and shoot us all.”

Katherine Thompson, an Alberta Justice spokeswoman, said the charge was withdrawn after the Crown reviewed the evidence.

“The Crown prosecutor’s investigations into this particular case continued to evolve after the initial decision was made to lay charges against the accused,” Thompson wrote in an email.

Enright, who said he lost his oil products sales job because of the charge and spent about $7,500 for legal services, contends he wasn’t treated fairly by the government.

He said he has no criminal record, doesn’t own a weapon or have a firearms permit.

In an interview with The Canadian Press last year, Enright said he called the minister’s office to sound off after he listened to radio host Danielle Smith, former Opposition Wildrose leader, talk about the economy and the coal industry.

“I didn’t mean to get upset and I did not threaten anybody at all,” he said last year.

Enright said he has a new job and recently paid off his legal bills.