Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery.Todd Korol/The Canadian Press
The Alberta NDP is demanding Premier Danielle Smith fire the province’s Justice Minister whom the Opposition party accuses of being in conflicts of interest because of his ties to Edmonton businessman Sam Mraiche.
On Tuesday, The Globe reported that Mickey Amery, the Justice Minister, pushed through legislation last year that reduced Elections Alberta’s ability to issue sanctions while Mr. Mraiche, his friend and relative, was being investigated by the agency.
The revelation further complicates Mr. Amery’s role as the province’s top lawyer because Mr. Mraiche is under scrutiny for his part in a procurement controversy that has led to a civil lawsuit and a criminal investigation.
Naheed Nenshi, the NDP Leader, called for Ms. Smith to remove Mr. Amery from his post.
“Justice Minister Mickey Amery has tried yet again to shield his best friend and relative Sam Mraiche, as well as himself, from investigation and prosecution,” Mr. Nenshi said in a statement. “The Premier needs to fire Mickey Amery today.”
Mr. Amery and Mr. Mraiche are lifelong friends and related through marriage, a connection first revealed by The Globe last May. At the time, Mr. Amery said his relationship with Mr. Mraiche did not conflict with his job as Justice Minister.
In December, The Globe reported that Elections Alberta investigated Mr. Mraiche for allegedly making illegal political donations to the governing United Conservative Party and the opposition NDP ahead of the 2023 election. Mr. Mraiche denies allegations he made illegal contributions.
Mr. Amery reduced the amount of time Elections Alberta had to seek penalties in connection to political finance investigations in May, 2025. For complaint-based investigations – such as the one regarding Mr. Mraiche – the authority, under the new law, has one year to pursue sanctions. Mr. Amery’s legislative changes came into effect just over a year after Elections Alberta launched its investigation. At the time, the authority had been attempting to interview Mr. Mraiche for months.
It is unclear what became of Elections Alberta’s probe; the authority has said it is prohibited by law from commenting on specific investigations.
Mr. Mraiche has been at the centre of the province’s health care procurement controversy since February, 2025, when Athana Mentzelopoulos, Alberta Health Services’s former chief executive, sued the government for wrongful dismissal. In court documents, she alleges the government fired her for investigating potential conflicts of interest in the health agency’s procurement process. She also alleges senior political officials put pressure on her to award surgical contracts with inflated fees to private businesses, including two owned in part by Mr. Mraiche. The government denies the allegations.
Alberta Health Services has awarded another Mraiche business, MHCare Medical Corp., more than $600-million in contracts since 2020, including the $70-million deal in 2022 to import children’s medication, only a third of which was ever delivered. Mr. Mraiche denies wrongdoing in the purchasing affair.
What you need to know about the Alberta health care procurement controversy
The RCMP has been investigating Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s allegations of procurement irregularities for more than a year. In March, police executed multiple search warrants, including one at MHCare’s office in Edmonton. The province’s Auditor-General is conducting a separate probe.
Sam Blackett, a spokesperson for Ms. Smith, did not address a question about the NDP’s call for Mr. Amery’s firing.
Mr. Blackett reiterated that the minister “was not aware” of Elections Alberta’s investigation into Mr. Mraiche. The government has never specified when Mr. Amery learned of the probe.
The procurement controversy and its ensuing police investigation have put Mr. Amery in a complicated position. As Justice Minister, he oversees Alberta’s Crown prosecutors and lawyers defending the government against Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s wrongful dismissal suit.
Andrew Flavelle Martin, a professor at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law who specializes in legal ethics for government lawyers and attorneys-general, told The Globe he was “very surprised” Mr. Amery had not yet recused himself from matters involving Mr. Mraiche.
“Minister Amery should have recused himself from as much of this as possible,” Prof. Martin said. “Even aside from from any desire to do the right thing, it would just seem to make the government’s life easier.”
“Recusal is an easy step, whether or not it’s legally required of him in this setting,” he said. “It’s just cleaner for everybody involved, and people can have more confidence in the provincial justice system.”
Alberta construction company alleges Sam Mraiche played hidden role in building of addiction sites
Ian Stedman, an expert in conflicts of interest and a law professor at York University’s School of Public Policy and Administration, said it would be “very difficult” for Mr. Amery to have an “unbiased approach” given the unresolved litigation, criminal investigation and legislative changes that could be seen to benefit his friend.
“As soon as your minister becomes aware that they have a close relationship with a litigant – someone who’s suing the government – then they would have an obligation to disclose that, and depending on the relationship to recuse themselves from decision-making on that file,” he said.
Furthermore, Mr. Amery would not necessarily have to be in an actual conflict to take steps to distance himself from the file.
“When there is a perception that they might be in a conflict of interest on a file, it’s in the public’s interest for them to be clear and transparent about their decision-making,” Prof. Stedman said.
“We’re at a point now in the evolution of our democracy where when something looks like a conflict, we treat it like a conflict. So the mere perception amounts, in the public’s imagination, to an actual conflict.”