(Gov't of Alberta YouTube)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19 and Canadian Press

premier: "i was not involved"

Premier Smith, Minister LaGrange stand by denials of wrongdoing in AHS corruption case

Feb 19, 2025 | 4:35 PM

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is removing her government’s deputy health minister but bucking calls for a public inquiry into allegations of government interference in lucrative medical contracts.

Smith says Andre Tremblay is to be replaced, but will continue as head of Alberta Health Services (AHS).

The former head of AHS, Athana Mentzelopoulos, alleges in a lawsuit that she was wrongfully dismissed for looking into questionable contracts pushed by government officials as high up as the premier’s office.

The statement of claim, which can be read here, alleges Mentzelopoulos was pressured by government officials to sign off on contracts with surgical facilities at unjustified, inflated prices.

The allegations have not been tested in court, nor has a statement of defence been filed — though LaGrange did note Wednesday she’d be filing one in the coming weeks.

The premier, meantime, said the government is working to hire an independent third party to help with an internal review and is setting up a “legal conflicts wall” to separate ongoing work of those implicated from the investigation.

There were also remarks from the pair trying to explain the sequence of events leading up to Mentzelopoulos’s dismissal.

LaGrange said she was enlightened of issues in summer 2024, then asked Mentzelopoulos multiple times for supporting evidence. The premier claimed she wasn’t notified until the fall — months later.

“I did not bring it to the premier because it was internal allegations,” said LaGrange. “These were allegations that were unsubstantiated and required much more investigation.”

Added Smith: “I was not involved in these procurement decisions. If mistakes were made, they will be corrected.”

Meanwhile, the opposition NDP are demanding the UCP stop all privatization of health care during what they’re calling the ‘CorruptCare’ investigation.

The NDP called on the UCP to take four steps in this regard:

• Increase surgeries in our public hospitals
• Increase surge capacity to support operating rooms that are understaffed and re-open those that are closed
• Pause all private surgical centre contract renegotiations and call a judicial inquiry to fully investigate this CorruptCare scandal
• Stop the privatization of our health care system

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Wednesday afternoon that the premier’s press conference was a, “master class in gaslighting.”

“The premier’s story makes no sense, and she’s clearly trying to hide the truth about alleged government corruption,” said Nenshi.

“She refuses to fire the people implicated, and she refuses to call a proper public inquiry. So despite all her talk of ‘legal walls,’ people will be investigating, and reporting to, their own bosses. Albertans have every right to be deeply suspicious.

Nenshi continued on about the premier’s remarks.

“The premier claims that the minister was trying to get to the bottom of this for eight months, and never told the premier, and that the premier had no idea what her chief of staff was doing,” he said.

“If this is true, both the premier and the minister are incompetent and must go. If she’s lying about it, Albertans deserve a premier who tells the truth.”

The province’s auditor general is also investigating.

(with files from The Canadian Press)