Some UCP Cabinet members used to stand up for Albertans, public funds
I'm a big nerd who loves facts, especially when those facts are just sitting in Hansard, the official record of everything said in the Alberta Legislature, waiting to be read again.
After the Alberta NDP absolutely hammered the UCP Cabinet Ministers in Question Period Tuesday and Wednesday, and I was impatiently awaiting Wednesday’s “blues” (that’s slang for the official record of spoken word in the Legislature that will be uploaded to Hansard), I remembered that there was something else I could look up in Hansard.
I’ve said before that if the Alberta NDP was accused of what the United Conservatives are, that they would be singing a different tune.
As luck would have it, there were allegations of political interference in AHS by the NDP, and the opposition, as they were at the time, absolutely was.
There were no allegations of fraud, mind you, nor allegations that the Premier and Minister of Health were doing everything in their power to hide evidence of that alleged fraud from the public.
Which is probably why I was only able to get a few quotes from Hansard on the first day the story broke, as the opposition moved on to other topics that Question Period, and had mostly abandoned it by the second day.
Oh, to bring back the good old days, hmmm?
“Don’t take the job”
Last week, Edmonton AM spoke with a former AHS CEO, Stephen Duckett, who held the role from 2009-2010.
His words of wisdom for the next AHS CEO or whatever that position looks like? “Don’t take the job.”
Prior to the appointment of Dr. Verna Yiu in January of 2016, AHS had chewed up and spit out five CEOs in five years. Since the removal of Dr. Yiu in early 2022, there have been three more, with the most recent being former Deputy Health Minister Andre Tremblay, who is also named multiple times in former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopolous’ statement of claim in the wrongful dismissal suit against AHS and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange.
While the two are similar in that both former AHS CEOs alleged political interference, there were no allegations then that the Premier and her Minister of Health were colluding to cover up a complex scheme to defraud Albertans.
Even so, a few notable individuals had some choice words on the subject.
“This is a very important organization to Albertans, but this Health minister was trying to run AHS in voice mode to hide her political interference,” then Wildrose Leader Brian Jean asked in Question Period on April 6, 2016.
“Will the Premier acknowledge today that hiding things from Albertans is unethical and commit that it will never happen again?”
To another question, he added that the former AHS CEO “told the AHS board that there was political interference in the decisions on Edmonton and north zone lab services. Let me paraphrase her letter: even though AHS has identified the right things to do and the right way to do them, AHS is being stopped. That type of political interference is very concerning and unacceptable.” (pg. 389)
If only Brian Jean, MLA from Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche and Minister of Energy had some sway now.
“Today Albertans learned a new Orwellian phrase: voice mode. Apparently voice mode is how the Health minister and senior staff avoid creating traceable paper documents surrounding their decisions for both Alberta Health and AHS and, by extension, avoid being open, transparent, and accountable to Albertans,” then Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (PCAA) Leader and MLA for Calgary-Hays asked.
“To the Premier: is making government less open, less transparent, and less accountable part of the change your government brings to Alberta?” (pg. 390)
If only the MLA from Calgary-Hays and Municipal Affairs Minister considered firing the person investigating potential fraud, dismissing a governance board who allegedly recommended the RCMP be brought in to investigate the suspected fraud (60.), and cancelling a third-party forensic audit into the same, “making government less open, less transparent, and less accountable” today.
Again, back in 2016 there were no allegations of fraud, or other criminal activity, but the opposition of the day was far more willing to stand up for Albertans, and the stewardship of public funds, then than they have managed to as Cabinet members.
Justifying the unjustifiable
Over two days of Question Period, and ahead of what is expected to be another attempt to change the channel with Budget 2025 on Thursday, the Premier and Minister of Health did their best to try and place the blame with contract and procurement in Alberta Health Services.
“We will get to the bottom of it,” was a common refrain from both the Premier and her Health Minister.
Thus far, their attempts to “get to the bottom of it”, seem calculated to do the exact opposite.
Chris Nickerson, the Assistant Deputy Minister of Health (now the acting Deputy Minister of Health) demanded in December that AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopolous stop her investigation and send all relevant files to the Health Ministry.
After allegedly updating Mr. Nickerson on the transfer of these files in an email on January 6, including a notation that AHS staff and Ms. Mentzelopolous were scheduled to meet with the Auditor General on January 10, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange allegedly met with the AHS Board on January 7 and demanded they remove Ms. Mentzelopolous. The Board allegedly refused (66.)
Ms. Mentzelopolous further alleges that Deputy Minister Andre Tremblay sent AHS staff a demand to cancel their meeting with the Auditor General (66.)
On January 8, 2025, Andre Tremblay, the former Deputy Minister of Health allegedly fired Ms. Mentzelopolous over Zoom (68.), and added “AHS CEO” to his duties.
On January 31, the Minister of Health fired the AHS Board, the same day the Auditor General apparently thought it prudent to open an investigation of his own.
At some point, the third-party forensic audit initiated by Ms. Mentzelopolous was cancelled.
To a casual observer, let alone a Cabinet Minister in the United Conservative Party, it really doesn’t look like they’re trying to get to the bottom of anything.
It looks like they’re doing everything they can to stop Albertans from finding out about anything at all.
“They’re in charge of the information forthcoming to the auditor general. They are the filter. They’ll determine what information gets turned over,” former Infrastructure Minister and Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Pete Guthrie said Tuesday morning, after resigning from his cabinet position.
“There is a conflict of interest if you’re investigating yourself.”
At least someone in the United Conservative Party thinks so.
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