Alberta hires former Manitoba chief judge to investigate health spending scandal

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith provides an update on what steps the government is taking related to allegations by former Alberta Health Services CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos, on Feb. 28, 2025, in Calgary. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

The Alberta government has hired a former head of Manitoba’s provincial court to investigate allegations of high-level arm-twisting in lucrative government contracts.

The government said Monday that Raymond Wyant’s work is to begin immediately with an interim report to go to the government by the end of May.

He is to review multimillion-dollar Alberta Health Services contracts for children’s medication and for surgeries done by for-profit providers.

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In a news release announcing the appointment, Christopher McPherson, the deputy minister for jobs, economy and trade, said Wyant will “operate independently of government.” The government is to provide access to “all relevant documents” and facilitate interviews with “relevant individuals.”

However, the Opposition NDP said Wyant’s marching orders make it impossible for him to get to the bottom of the scandal.

The controversy erupted last month, when the former head of Alberta Health Services filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, Athana Mentzelopoulos alleges government interference in overpriced health deals for private companies that reached as high as the premier’s office.

The allegations have not been tested in court, and Premier Danielle Smith has denied any wrongdoing.

Smith has instead focused her attention on rooting out potential contracting mistakes on the part of AHS, and has accused AHS leadership of stymieing the government’s mission to increase private surgical contracts in the province.

She has already lost a cabinet minister over the matter.

Last week, Peter Guthrie quit as infrastructure minister over concerns about government-wide procurement problems.

West Yellowhead MLA Martin Long was named as Guthrie’s replacement on Thursday.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, who is named in the lawsuit, has said she will “vigorously” fight the claim and soon file a statement of defence.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the allegations deserve a full public inquiry led by a judge who can subpoena witnesses and require evidence under oath.

Instead, Nenshi said, the Wyant investigation is designed to give Smith cover.

“The premier’s hand-picked judge has welcome expertise and background, but she is hobbling him before he begins by placing him in a straitjacket of restrictions from Day 1. The study’s strict terms and limited scope will prevent this judge from getting to the bottom of this CorruptCare scandal,” said Nenshi in a statement Monday.

“(Wyant) has been asked to deliver a report to the very office he’s investigating, and then let the premier sit on it for a month. That’s simply not good enough.”

He added the study appears to be focused on AHS employees and not on allegations of corruption in the government.

Wyant is the former chief judge of the provincial court of Manitoba, has also worked as a defence lawyer and a Crown prosecutor, and has taught law at the University of Manitoba.

He is to be paid $31,500 per month, with a budget for third-party support set at $500,000.

The terms of reference task Wyant with finding whether any elected officials or employees of the government or AHS acted improperly — in the context of the government’s “expressed policy objectives” — when the relevant contracts were being signed.

Also, he is to determine whether any staff with the Health Ministry, AHS or the companies involved in the contracts properly disclosed and dealt with any potential conflicts of interest.

A final report is due to the government by July 30, and McPherson promised it will be posted publicly.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2025.

By Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press