Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has appointed a former judge to investigate whether the province’s procurement decisions around health were consistent with the government’s policy objectives, after The Globe and Mail first reported allegations of political interference last month.
Ms. Smith, in a ministerial order published Monday, named Raymond Wyant, a former chief judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba, as the independent investigator. He will review the circumstances around which the Ministry of Health and Alberta Health Services procured children’s medicine and chartered surgical facilities, according to the terms of reference.
The Premier’s instructions make no reference to investigating contracts and procurement related to MHCare Medical and companies affiliated with its owner, Sam Mraiche, beyond the troubled 2022 deal to buy $70-million in generic children’s medication from Turkey. AHS’s former chief executive alleges, in a lawsuit, that the provincial health authority paid firms affiliated with Mr. Mraiche around $614-million for goods and services over recent years.
Jessie Bakker, a lawyer representing Mr. Mraiche and MHCare, has previously said her clients “have no comment other than to state that any allegations or insinuations of wrongdoing on the part of MHCare Medical Corporation and/or Sam Mraiche are unwarranted and unjustified.”
Alberta said it will publish Mr. Wyant’s final report and recommendations, which are due June 30. The government gave him a budget of $500,000 to hire contractors, and will pay Mr. Wyant $31,900 per month.
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Athana Mentzelopoulos alleges the government fired her as AHS’s CEO on Jan. 8, two days before she was scheduled to meet with the Auditor-General to discuss her internal investigations at the health authority. She alleges government officials, including the Premier’s chief of staff, put pressure on her to sign deals for chartered surgical facilities (CSF) that she argued came with inflated fees relative to another private provider and AHS’s internal costs. She also alleges it was unclear who really owned the private surgical outfits that were negotiating contracts.
Further, she alleges an AHS employee who was seconded to the Ministry of Health appeared to be retained or engaged by people involved with the chartered surgical facilities and AHS procurement contracts while also providing advice and services to Alberta Health and AHS for those same contracts.
None of the allegations have been tested in court. Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, who is named in the $1.7-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit, has said she intends to file a statement of defence. Auditor-General Doug Wylie launched his own examination into contracting and procurement processes at AHS and Alberta Health.
The scope of the independent review will include, but not be limited to, questioning whether AHS and Alberta Health procurement decisions were “consistent with established policies in the context of the government’s expressed policy objectives and the operational and environmental contexts at the time of the procurements.”
Mr. Wyant has also been instructed to explore whether inquiries to Alberta Health and AHS from “any elected official or member of a minister’s staff, or by any member of the Alberta Public Service,” regarding procurement processes were consistent “with the exercise of accountability for implementing the government’s expressed policy objectives.”
Ms. Smith has repeatedly dismissed allegations that her former chief of staff, Marshall Smith, put pressure on Ms. Mentzelopoulos to sign contracts with CSFs. The Premier argues it is appropriate for government staff to check in on agencies to see whether they are executing the government’s policy objectives. Ms. Smith is not related to Mr. Smith, who has said the public service handled procurement.
Ms. Smith argues AHS has been trying to frustrate the government’s strategy to reduce the surgical backlog by pursuing deals with private facilities. The Premier contends that if improper contracts at AHS are discovered, it falls on the health authority because it was in charge of the process.