Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Health Minister Adriana LaGrange has her full support as they navigate allegations of high-level government corruption in medical contracts.
“I still have confidence in my health minister,” Smith told reporters Wednesday while in Washington with other premiers to lobby against U.S. tariffs.
“We have to see if there's any wrongdoing first. And if there is, then we have to clean it up.”
It's the first time Smith has spoken publicly about the allegations since they came to light in a Globe and Mail report a week ago. LaGrange's only public comment came Tuesday, when she spoke with reporters for less than one minute on her way into a cabinet meeting at the Alberta legislature.
The Opposition NDP on Wednesday called on the United Conservative Party government to reconvene the legislature so that Smith and LaGrange can be made available for questions.
"The best disinfectant for all of this is sunshine," NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi told reporters.
"If she's too uncomfortable with those questions, if she doesn't want to answer them, Albertans have a right to see that as well."
Pancholi and NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman also reiterated their calls for LaGrange and Smith to step aside while a review is done by auditor general Doug Wylie.
Smith said Wednesday she supports Wylie's review and that government documents are being made available.
"If there's wrongdoing, we'd like to get to the bottom of it," Smith said.
The controversy surrounds allegations made by Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former head of Alberta Health Services.
Mentzelopoulos, in a letter from her lawyer, alleges she was fired last month because she was investigating questionable deals, overpriced contracts with private surgical facilities, and conflicts of interest that reached right into Smith’s office.
The letter alleges Mentzelopoulos was pressured by government staff to sign new contracts and extensions for private surgical facilities despite having concerns about ownership groups and cost figures.
Smith said Wednesday that, as she understood from her health minister, the government had been asking for proof of those concerns for eight months but weren't provided with any.
"If there isn't (any wrongdoing), we need to find out why AHS is standing in the way of charter surgical centres," the premier said.
Mentzelopoulos' letter says she was fired two days before she was to meet with Wylie to share her findings.
Besides Wylie's review, LaGrange has said AHS is also doing an internal review, with the support of an unnamed third-party company.
Pancholi said the AHS review amounts to the government investigating itself, since deputy health minister Andre Tremblay is now CEO and sole administrator of the health authority, as the board was also fired on Jan. 31.
"The whole issue here is about secrecy and coverup potentially from the government. We cannot then ask that same government to investigate itself," Pancholi said.
"This is absurdity."
The NDP, along with health-care unions and advocacy groups, have also called for an RCMP investigation and a full judicial inquiry to get to the bottom of the affair.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said Wednesday that Mounties were still reviewing the allegations.
AHS has said it won't be issuing any new contracts to companies involved in the review, but it hasn't provided a list of those companies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2025.
Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
