Even before she became Premier, Danielle Smith was an outspoken critic of Deena Hinshaw’s handling of the pandemic, and removed her from her post as chief medical officer in November, 2022.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
Premier Danielle Smith told a Monday news conference that she had frequently discussed staffing decisions with the head of Alberta Health Services, but she sidestepped questions about an allegation that she had interfered in the organization’s plan to hire Deena Hinshaw, the province’s former chief medical officer of health.
Ms. Smith told reporters she had been in constant contact with John Cowell, a physician she appointed as administrator of the health authority after she fired its board in November, 2022.
But when asked about the allegation that she had, this past spring, thwarted AHS’s plan to hire Dr. Hinshaw into its Indigenous Wellness Core, which serves Indigenous communities, Ms. Smith said the health authority’s leadership was responsible for staffing decisions.
She said she had put Dr. Cowell in charge to make such decisions. Her government replaced him with a new AHS board in November.
“I talked with him on a weekly basis. We talked about staffing decisions, a lot,” she said. “Ultimately, it is the official administrator, and now the board and the CEO, who will make those decisions. And it was the case in this instance, too. That the decisions of AHS were made by AHS.”
Dr. Hinshaw became Alberta’s chief medical officer in 2019, and guided the province through its early response to COVID-19.
Even before Ms. Smith became Premier, she was an outspoken critic of Dr. Hinshaw’s handling of the pandemic. Ms. Smith won the leadership of the United Conservative Party last year largely because of her fierce opposition to Alberta’s pandemic public-health restrictions. The Premier removed Dr. Hinshaw from her post as chief medical officer in November, 2022. The right flank of the UCP celebrated the move.
The allegation that Ms. Smith had interfered in Dr. Hinshaw’s hiring is contained in a resignation letter from former AHS interim vice-president Braden Manns. The letter’s contents were first revealed by The Globe and Mail on Monday.
Ms. Smith has previously faced accusations of political interference, most notably when the province’s Ethics Commissioner, about two weeks before the provincial election in May, ruled that she had inappropriately attempted to influence her justice minister in a way that was a “threat to democracy.”
While the Premier’s critics argued Dr. Hinshaw’s dismissal as chief medical officer was political, they conceded it was within Ms. Smith’s purview. But AHS was designed to be an arm’s-length organization, and Dr. Hinshaw’s prospective job there was not an executive position.
In his resignation letter, dated June 11, Dr. Manns said he had left his position because he was instructed to revoke Dr. Hinshaw’s job offer after Ms. Smith and others in her orbit spoke with Dr. Cowell. Dr. Manns characterized this as political interference, and said it would damage AHS’s relationships with Indigenous communities.
Dr. Manns said the Premier called Dr. Cowell while the two physicians were speaking in a hallway on June 1, shortly after news of Dr. Hinshaw’s hiring had become public.
Dr. Cowell, in a meeting afterward, said Ms. Smith was “firm” that Dr. Hinshaw was not to be hired, according to Dr. Manns’s letter.
Asked specifically on Monday about the June 1 phone call, Ms. Smith reiterated that AHS makes its own staffing choices.
“I talked with Dr. Cowell all the time about staffing decisions. And he always made it clear that the decisions by AHS were made by AHS,” she said.
Dr. Cowell declined to comment. AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson said in a statement that the organization does not comment on personnel matters.
The Globe also reported that Alberta Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler was investigating the circumstances of the revocation of Dr. Hinshaw’s job offer. In an August letter, she asked Dr. Manns to sit for an interview. He previously told The Globe he had done so in October.
The Ethics Commissioner’s office said in a statement that it does not confirm the existence of investigations or release outcomes.
In November, Ms. Smith’s government decided not to renew the Ethics Commissioner’s contract. Around the same time, Ms. Smith expressed frustration with the commissioner, noting there are “certain things that we have been told that I cannot do.”
David Shepherd, who serves as the Official Opposition NDP’s health critic, called Dr. Manns’s accusations “deeply concerning” and “unacceptable.” Mr. Shepherd noted that Esther Tailfeathers, who chaired the search committee that selected Dr. Hinshaw, had also resigned in June after AHS revoked Dr. Hinshaw’s employment offer.
“This interference cost us the service of both Dr. Tailfeathers and Dr. Manns,” Mr. Shepherd said in a statement.