Alberta premier responds to cabinet member’s request to move health minister

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she asked all of her ministers for their recommendations after a report surfaced that one of them called for the health minister be moved to a different portfolio while allegations of corruption are investigated.

Smith’s statement during her provincewide phone-in radio program Saturday came when she was asked to confirm whether Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie sent a memo asking that Adriana LaGrange to be moved to other jobs while the investigations are underway.

Smith replied that “if you want to get honest input, you have to be prepared to hear what people have to say,” adding that “not everyone agrees with minister Guthrie.”

Smith’s government and Alberta’s auditor general are investigating allegations which centre around a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed this week by the former head of Alberta Health Services, Athana Mentzelopoulos.

Mentzelopoulos, in her statement of claim, alleges LaGrange fought and ultimately fired her after she balked at signing off on excessively lucrative contracts between the government and private surgery clinics.

Smith told her radio audience Saturday that LaGrange has been removed from decision-making on the file, but that she’s doing “amazing and important work” on refocusing the health-care system, and that her work is particularly important in the next six months.

“You can’t make a rash decision until you know if there’s any wrongdoing. Right now, we have allegations in a statement of claim asking for a bunch of money for a payout, and we have to put it in that context,” Smith said.

“Are the allegations, are they real? Is there wrongdoing? Is this a process issue? Is there something more? We don’t know the answers to that yet.”

On Friday, the CBC reported that it had obtained a memo where Guthrie said LaGrange and the top civil servant in health, Andre Tremblay, should be moved to other jobs while the scandal is investigated.

Guthrie’s email, reportedly sent to his cabinet colleagues Thursday, said the gravity of the allegations requires Tremblay to be moved, LaGrange shifted to another cabinet portfolio and for the RCMP to be notified if there are potential concerns of criminal behaviour.

Global News has not seen Guthrie’s email, but in an emailed statement to the Canadian Press on Friday, Smith’s office didn’t challenge the veracity of the memo but backed LaGrange.

Mentzelopoulos’ claims have not been tested in court.

Reached for comment Friday, LaGrange’s spokesperson Jessi Rampton said the minister had no comment and referred to a previous statement LaGrange issued this week in which she said many of the allegations are false while others needed to be looked into.

Critics, including the Opposition NDP, have called for LaGrange to be fired.

Speaking at a funding announcement for schools held in Calgary on Saturday, two of LaGrange’s cabinet colleagues said they still support the embattled health minister.

“You know, people always have different opinions — and yeah, I just don’t agree with his assessment,” said Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides.

Minister of Advanced Education Rajan Sawhney said she agreed with Nicolaides’ comments.

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