NDP leader calls for Smith’s resignation; Auditor general to investigate UCP procurement practices

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 7, 2025.

newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi told reporters Thursday that allegations that the UCP government interfered in procurement practices in the province’s health ministry are the “most shocking allegations that I have ever seen,” and called for Smith to resign if proven factual.

Nenshi is also calling for a full RCMP investigation and public inquiry into the high-level corruption allegations into medical purchases and surgery contracts that would financially benefit UCP members, including Health Minister Adriana LaGrange and Andre Tremblay, who is now head of the day-to-day running of the health system.

The remarks come after a report published by the Globe & Mail cites a letter from a lawyer for Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former CEO of Alberta Health Services, who was released in January.

The letter accuses the UCP government of wide-ranging corruption, including inflating contracts for private surgery providers, conflicts of interest and firing of the CEO because she tried to investigate.

“The report alleges that this firing happened after the CEO (Mentzelopoulos) and the board of AHS started to look into the legality around contracts for private surgeries that could enrich companies that had very, very strong ties to the UCP government and staff,” Nenshi said Thursday.

Doug Wylie, the province’s auditor general, will be looking into these allegations in the procurement processes and contracts for surgical facilities. In a statement released Thursday, Wylie said his probe within the Department of Health and Alberta Health Services is ongoing.

The investigation will look into the effectiveness of management and control processes, including governance and oversight.

“I recently commenced an examination of the procurement and contracting processes at the Department of Health and Alberta Health Services,” said Wylie. “At this time, the examination pertains to chartered surgical facilities, medication and COVID-19 personal protection equipment.”

Medications under procurement investigation include the common pain relievers ibuprofen and acetaminophen.

In his statement, Wylie says if necessary, his investigation will extend to other organizations.

Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, says the allegations are shocking and Albertans need honest answers as to what actually happened.

“There needs to be an immediate investigation,” says Gallaway. “Albertans deserve to know what happened, which means the auditor-general should prioritize this investigation (and) they shouldn’t be impeded in any way by the government, or the need for documents, or to talk to folks.”

Nenshi said Christina Gray, leader of the opposition party in the Legislature, will be demanding three investigations from the RCMP, the auditor-general and the ethics commissioner.

Gallaway says Friends of Medicare was already concerned about the lack of accountability with the firing of another AHS board, but these allegations suggest there was some motivation to cover things up.

“We were concerned that (putting Deputy Minister Andre Tremblay fully in charge) lacked accountability and democracy, and now it appears they may have been doing it for even worse reasons, trying to cover what was happening to prevent things from becoming public.”

Tremblay is AHS’s fifth 12th CEO since it was established in 2008, and Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, says it’s costing Albertans millions of their tax dollars to pay out top officials.

“We’re replacing CEOs every year with a buyout package of hundreds of thousands, to the point of millions of dollars,” says Parker. “None of that serves the front lines of health care, it sacrifices them.

“If these allegations are true, then there is direct government interference to a for profit model that harms Albertans and harms the 30,000 members of HSAA on the front lines.”

Gallaway says several reports show that the government’s plan to move to for-profit surgeries isn’t creating more capacity for surgeries, its doing the opposite.

“There’s been report after report that have shown that agenda is failing, it’s not creating more capacity for surgeries,” says Gallaway. “We’ve actually got fewer surgeries done in our public hospitals because they’ve done these contracts, wait lists haven’t shrink in spite of the government claims (that) they would because of these contracts.”

— with files from Southern Alberta Newspapers and The Canadian Press

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