Listen to daily commentary from program director Murray Wood
Murray Wood says the federal NDP seems to be heading for a political wipe out, as the left-leaning vote seems to be goin...
EDMONTON — An outspoken member of Alberta’s legislature, booted from the United Conservative Party caucus, is airing more detailed allegations of what he calls government deception over a health-care contract scandal.
Peter Guthrie resigned as infrastructure minister in February and is accusing Premier Danielle Smith and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange of deliberately misleading a Jan. 30 cabinet committee meeting over procurement issues.
“I didn’t step down because nothing happened,” he said.
Asking questions in the legislature for the first time as an Independent member Thursday, Guthrie said at that meeting there was no mention of a previous Alberta Health Services investigation into questionable contracts with private surgical facilities.
He said there was no reference to the former AHS CEO’s Jan. 20 letter to the health agency, which included allegations of political meddling.
And, Guthrie said, there was no indication the auditor general had been notified of concerns.
Guthrie said he believed the meeting resulted in the dismissal of the health authority’s board, a move the government announced Jan. 31.
“Is withholding information from cabinet considered (the) normal course of business?” he said.
LaGrange said Guthrie has it wrong.
“The member opposite is misguided, misinformed and misinterpreted the context of that meeting,” she said.
Facing heated questions from the Opposition NDP, Smith was unequivocal: “No one was misled.”
The premier said the meeting was to talk about standing up the new Acute Care Alberta organization as part of the province’s massive revamping of the health-care system, how to wind down the “transition” board because it was no longer needed at AHS, and appointing an interim CEO to replace Athana Mentzelopoulos, the fired head of AHS who is suing the government.
Mentzelopoulos’s lawsuit claims she was wrongfully fired Jan. 8 for looking into sweetheart deals and collusion in multimillion-dollar health contracts — two days before she was set to meet with the auditor general to discuss her concerns.
The government and AHS have alleged Mentzelopoulos was fired because she was failing in her job and working to stop mandated health reform.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The premier’s office has also said the province was aware of the investigation by Mentzelopoulos last summer but that she failed to produce any evidence.
Smith on Thursday noted that Guthrie’s resignation letter was dated almost two weeks after the lawsuit was filed in court, and there were a number of things the government had learned by then.
“We were all concerned about the need for us to get to the bottom of why it was that AHS was signing contracts with charter surgical facilities that contain different prices for the same procedure at different facilities,” said Smith.
Smith has denied any wrongdoing, insisting her government is fully co-operating with multiple investigations to get to the bottom of it, including probes by the auditor general and former Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant.
While the government has bucked continued calls for a public inquiry, the matter has prompted an RCMP investigation.
In Guthrie’s letter, tabled in the legislature Wednesday, he wrote that Jobs Minister Matt Jones had his back.
Guthrie said the majority of ministers around the table, with the exception of Jones, were “satisfied that the practice of withholding pertinent decision-making details was justifiable and one in which they could support.”
Jones on Thursday told reporters that he couldn’t talk about details of the letter because of cabinet confidentiality.
“These are serious allegations, and I take them seriously, and that’s why I’m supporting the independent investigations,” he said.
“And I will support all remedial actions that are warranted to address any wrongdoings that are uncovered, if any.”
NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi told reporters it’s clear the UCP is an organization that punishes integrity, calling LaGrange’s denial of Guthrie’s claims “weaselly.”
“This is the same health minister who put out a statement last week saying it’s standard practice to say that people can only speak to an investigator with their boss and their boss’s lawyer present. It’s not standard practice,” he said.
Earlier this week, Guthrie stood with the NDP in the house to demand an independent judicial-led public inquiry.
“If we have nothing to hide, we should take that path,” he said Monday.
Former UCP legislature member Scott Sinclair is also sitting as an Independent and supported the inquiry call.
He was expelled from caucus last month for threatening to vote against the government’s budget.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2025.
Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
