Alberta premier asks for patience, vows ‘repercussions’ in health procurement investigation

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith pleaded for patience on her biweekly Saturday radio show as investigations proceed into allegations of improper procurement procedures in the health system.

“I don’t want to rush things. I have been talking to those who are in the legal profession. They say at the outset, four to six months would probably be the earliest,” Smith told the radio audience. “I just want people to be patient.”

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The Alberta government was plunged into a maelstrom of public scrutiny earlier this month when a report was released alleging political interference in Alberta Health Services’s procurement practices, including lucrative contracts for private surgery clinics.

The allegation was detailed as part of a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos, who claims to have been fired for pushing back against Health Minister Adriana LaGrange and others on the procurement deals. Allegations in a statement of claim have not been proven in court. 

In her radio appearance, Smith welcomed investigations into the issue.

“We take the allegations seriously, which is why we are going to have an investigation internal, as well as with the auditor general, looking at trying to get some external eyes on this,” said Smith.

She said the Alberta government would have more details on its internal investigation next week, but reasserted her faith in LaGrange’s ongoing work in “refocusing” Alberta’s health system.

“I think she’s doing such amazing and important work,” she said.

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Smith confirmed recent reports that Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie called for LaGrange to be moved to a different cabinet portfolio, saying that she sought input from all the cabinet and that “if you want to get honest input, you have to be prepared to hear what people have to say.”

She said not everyone in cabinet agreed with Guthrie.

“Where we do agree (is) that we have to make sure that Minister LaGrange is removed from making any decisions around this file. This is why it’s got to be independent. It’s going to be overseen by another body.”

Smith said LaGrange’s statement of defence is expected “shortly,” noting LaGrange had 20 days to produce it.

“I understand it will be very detailed, and so once she is able to put her side of the story on the table, then I would hope that there would be as enthusiastic reporting as we’ve seen on the original statement of claim.”

She said the investigation into the claim was important and that “if there’s wrongdoing, then we’ve got to get to the bottom of it.

“There has to be repercussions.”

After acknowledging the severity of the claim, Smith took the opportunity to highlight her concerns about AHS’s procurement process.

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“We also have to ask the questions about why it’s taken Alberta Health Services literally years and years and years to finalize some of these contracts that were awarded even before I got into office.”

Smith was asked about her thoughts on the motivation behind the issue, and whether it was indicative of a broader resistance from AHS toward the Alberta government for its changes to the health system.

“I don’t know what the motivation is, and I don’t know what the answer is. That’s why we have to do the independent review to find out,” she said.

-With files from Matthew Black and The Canadian Press

zdelaney@postmedia.com

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