Breanna Palmer, the ex-wife of Calgary lawyer and former Alberta attorney general Jonathan Denis, lied to police and to the courts while under oath in an attempt to squeeze $1 million from her husband, says a recent court judgment.

Associate Chief Justice of Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench, John Rooke, ruled in a strongly-worded three-page judgment filed Feb. 25 that, on April 23, 2015, Palmer “conspired and filed a false and fraudulent report with the Calgary Police” against Denis, “in an attempt to have him charged with a criminal offence, falsely alleging that he cut the brakes and/or clutch” of her 1998 Acura Integra.

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“This judgment speaks for itself,” a relieved Denis, 42, said from the Calgary office of Guardian Law Group, which he helped found four years ago, shortly after losing his Calgary-Acadia seat in the May 5, 2015, election. “It’s a very explicit judgment as to what went on and what the motive was.”

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Justice Rooke also found that the following day, Palmer made false allegations against Denis and his mother while under oath before Alberta Provincial Court Judge Lynn Cook-Stanhope, when Palmer sought an ex-parte Emergency Protection Order (EPO), that was granted against Denis and his elderly mother, something that is done without the other side present to protect victims of domestic violence.

“In doing so, Breanna Palmer lied to the Court under oath with the intent of injuring Jonathan Denis and committed acts of defamation, injurious falsehood, malicious prosecution and abuse of process,” ruled Justice Rooke.

“Palmer carefully timed her false and fraudulent accusations, immediately before the Provincial election . . . to cause the maximum amount of injury to Jonathan Denis,” wrote Rooke.

Cook-Stanhope — who died April 14 — issued a publication ban at that time, which Rooke ruled Palmer violated by providing “copies of the ex-parte EPO to news media in Calgary and elsewhere.”

On April 23, 2015, following a Calgary Flames game, Palmer “stated in front of several witnesses near the Saddledome, ‘I’ve made his (Denis’s) day hard. I’m going to get a lot of money out of this.’ ”

Five days later, “Palmer demanded $1 million from Jonathan Denis with a flavour of extortion,” ruled Rooke. “The couple had been married for six months at this time.”

Denis says he met Palmer in 2010, they became a couple in 2012 and were married at Centre Street Church on Oct. 11, 2014.

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Palmer’s appeal of Rooke’s judgment was dismissed by the Alberta Court of Appeal on April 2.

Denis, who says he gets emotional when he reflects on that time — which he describes as “the hardest time in my life” — says then-premier Jim Prentice called the provincial election on April 7, 2015, and Denis drove back to Calgary from Edmonton. The next day, Denis opened his campaign office on Macleod Trail across from Chinook Centre and he said Palmer showed up for the opening, which is not indicative of someone who is afraid of their spouse.

On April 12, at about 6 p.m., after spending the entire day campaigning, Denis returned to his Altadore house — which he bought more than two years before marrying Palmer — “and the only thing left in the place was the fridge, bed and some other large pieces of furniture. All of her stuff was gone and some of my stuff was gone. I was completely shocked. I didn’t see this coming at all,” recalls Denis.

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He said Palmer then showed up at the house with some people Denis didn’t know, and when he confronted her, she called the police. The next day, Denis had the locks to his house changed, but when he came home from campaigning, this time with his mother, Marguerite Denis, Palmer was there again. Palmer had a locksmith open the house and had removed more items. The police were there and Denis said he left the scene as he didn’t want to have another verbal altercation with her.

Nothing further happened until April 23, when “the false accusations started coming out — one more outlandish than the last. I had heard from the premier’s office saying that she was trying to get me charged with attempted murder, again, no charges were ever laid,” he said.

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The next day, Palmer obtained the EPO against Denis and his mom. “I’m not going to tell you how old my mom is, but my mom would never hurt a flea, so including my mother in the EPO was all really upsetting.” On April 25, Denis had to resign from cabinet because there was a matter before the courts. Following a four-day hearing, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Craig Jones revoked the emergency protection order, stating that Palmer was not in danger of violence from Denis or his mom.

That, however, didn’t stop the “crazy allegations” from being reported in the media.

Palmer had also alleged that Denis did drugs, but he says, “I’ve never done an illegal substance in my entire life. I’ve never even smoked a cigarette,” he said.

“I’m very grateful for Associate Chief Justice Rooke’s judgment that we received on Feb. 25,” said Denis. “It’s my hope that the public would see that the trust that was placed in me as their MLA and as a minister was not misplaced.

“This has been the worst thing that I have ever dealt with in my entire life. Not just because of how it’s affected me but it’s also affected someone I love, most notably my mom, whom I think the world of,” he said, his voice cracking. “I have a lot more compassion as a lawyer for the wrongfully accused, having been through this.

“If there’s one thing I’m guilty of is falling in love with someone that did not feel the same way about me, obviously,” he said, shrugging. “That hurts.”

Denis is not seeking any monetary damages from Palmer, he just wants his name cleared. And while it wasn’t easy, he has “come to a place of forgiveness” and says, “I wish her well.”

But it’s not just Denis who was harmed here. Valuable police and court resources were wasted as a result of these fraudulent accusations made solely to squeeze money out of a successful man who fell in love.

These kinds of false accusations will continue to be used as a vicious tool against others as long as there are no consequences for those who make them.

People such as Palmer need to be held accountable for their actions.