After three days of silence, Premier Danielle Smith spoke out on Saturday and denied any wrongdoing in relation to explosive allegations about operations and conflict of interest concerns at Alberta Health Services (AHS).
The allegations were outlined in a letter sent by the lawyer for former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopolous to the Globe and Mail.
The letter alleges that Alberta Health Services was pressured to approve private contracts and that the former AHS CEO was fired two days before a meeting with the auditor general to discuss findings around private surgery facilities and procurement contracts.
Smith has not been made available since the news broke earlier this week, but in a statement, she said the allegations are “troubling” and called for an expedited review of the auditor general’s investigation.
“We need to get to the bottom of this issue quickly to identify any potential wrongdoing, correct it, and address it appropriately,” Smith said. “I have also asked that AHS’s internal review be completed as quickly as possible and delivered directly to me so we can study the results and make improvements or adjustments to these processes.”
Smith added, “As Premier, I was not involved in any wrongdoing. Any insinuation to the contrary is false, baseless and defamatory.”
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Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi slammed the premier soon after she released her statement, with a statement of his own, saying Smith’s actions don’t go far enough.
“It took her four days to say anything. And then she says she will do nothing beyond what’s already happening,” Nenshi said.
“This is simply not good enough. Her own office is implicated. The investigation can’t be handed over to the people being investigated. How dumb does she think Albertans are?”
Nenshi is calling for an independent public inquiry and is calling on the RCMP for a full investigation.
Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams described the response from Smith as “very little and very late”.
“There have been very serious allegations raised that touch on things most important to Albertans — affordability and health care,” Williams said.
“It appears, based on this report, that taxpayer money, people who are struggling to make ends meet, who pay their taxes to the government, that money is then used to pay more to friends of the government. This raises questions about integrity and competence.”
Williams questions whether an auditor general’s investigation is enough to provide full details. She believes an independent investigation would suffice.
“[We need] one that has the power to subpoena witnesses to compel disclosure of information. The level of independence and disclosure necessary will not be satisfied by an auditor general’s report,” she said.
Alberta Health Services has since paused contracting for surgical facilities under review.
The RCMP also confirmed with Global News that they are reviewing the allegations.
“This is going to be one of those controversies that, as they say, have legs,” Williams said.
— with files from Morgan Black, Global News
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