Bell: Danielle Smith insists she’s not guilty of anything, but will that be enough?​on February 8, 2025 at 8:56 pm

There’s snow on the ground and ice on the roads, but the politics in Alberta is hot.

It’s Super Bowl weekend and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith decides to take to the field and go on offence.

Or is it defence.

“As premier, I was not involved in any wrongdoing. Any insinuation to the contrary is false, baseless and defamatory,” says Smith, in a statement on social media.

The first shot is followed by a second, an old familiar target.

“It’s no secret I have been unhappy with the level and quality of service delivered by Alberta Health Services and in the inability of AHS to deliver quality and timely health care to Albertans.”

At least we now have more than the sound of crickets.

But the XXXL question is whether or not her statement will put out the firestorm.

That is a question for the court of public opinion to answer.

Yes, Smith puts out a statement Saturday morning, the morning after barrels of ink were spilled over allegations there was monkey business going on with big money contracts in the health system and it reached right into the inner circle of the UCP government.

We will go through the premier’s statement, but let’s do a once-over on the allegations.

The allegations come from Athana Mentzelopoulos, now the former boss at Alberta Health Services, who says she was doing an investigation into whether there was any dirt, any wrongdoing in contracts and purchasing.

She presented what she had to the AHS board and it is alleged they told her to go to the RCMP.

Just before she meets the province’s financial watchdog with what she had, the AHS boss is fired.

She then sends a lengthy letter to the AHS board and alleges what she found goes right inside Smith’s office and claims Smith’s health minister, Adriana LaGrange, was aware of what was up and the health department who answers to LaGrange told the AHS boss to wrap up her investigation and hand over the files.

Again, these are allegations.

Shortly after the letter, the AHS board is fired and there is no new board and now the man in charge is also number two in the provincial government’s health department.

If the allegations are true, it’s heavy stuff, my friends.

In the statement, Smith says she has read various media stories “regarding the procurement and contracting processes of Alberta Health Services.”

Smith says these are “troubling allegations.” Smith adds “they should be reviewed as quickly as possible.”