‘I was not involved in any wrongdoing’: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responds to allegations

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks to the media during the fall meetings of Canada's premiers, in Toronto, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

After three days of silence surrounding explosive allegations concerning the procurement and contracting process at Alberta Health Services (AHS), Premier Danielle Smith issued a response Saturday morning.

Smith said the allegations, first published in the Globe & Mail on Wednesday, were “troubling” and that she will be writing to auditor general Doug Wylie “to ask for an expedited review.”

“We need to get to the bottom of this issue quickly to identify any potential wrongdoing, correct it and address it appropriately.

“As Premier, I was not involved in any wrongdoing,” she added. “Any insinuation to the contrary is false, baseless and defamatory.

“It’s no secret I have been unhappy with the level and quality of service delivered by AHS and in the inability of AHS to deliver quality and timely healthcare to Albertans,” she added. “I will continue to relentlessly push forward to make improvements. Although that has required difficult decisions and major change, I do not accept the current results.

“There is a widespread and deep-seated resistance to change that we must overcome. That’s my goal: better healthcare for all.”

Smith posted the entire statement on X as well after her office said Friday that no statement would be made over the weekend.

The statement came in response to allegations from former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos, who said her contract was terminated on Jan. 8 --just two days before she was allegedly going to meet with the province’s auditor general regarding an internal investigation into procurement contracts.

Those allegations were denied by Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, who said the personnel and board changes at AHS were part of the planned Feb. 1 transition of AHS into a service provider under the newly constituted Acute Care Alberta agency.

“As to the allegations made by the outgoing CEO, Alberta Health Services is reviewing them, but the interpretation that her termination was due to AHS’s review of certain procurement decisions are false,” read a statement from LaGrange’s office.

“We understand that AHS has been reviewing these procurement decisions and processes and that work will continue until it is completed.”

Smith has no public availabilities listed for next week. The premier is slated to be Washington D.C. on Wednesday with all the other Canadian premiers to meet U.S. business leaders.

Nenshi responds

Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi responded to Smith’s statement Saturday morning, describing her statement as “simply not good enough.”

“It took her four days to say anything,” Nenshi said, in a statement of his own. “And then she says she will do nothing beyond what’s already happening.

“Her own office is implicated,” he added, calling for a “full RCMP investigation because Albertans can’t trust Danielle Smith.”

With files from CTV’s Mark Villani