Leaving LaGrange as health minister amid AHS scandal ‘doesn’t make any sense’: Public Interest Alberta

As Miriam Valdes-Carletti reports, some Albertans are calling for the premier to fire her health minister amid the Alberta Health Services scandal.

There were more calls for the resignation – or termination – of Health Minister Adriana LaGrange on Saturday.

Albertans bundled up on Saturday for a protest at LaGrange’s constituency office in Red Deer, organized by Public Interest Alberta.

The calls come after the former head of Alberta Health Services (AHS) Athana Mentzelopoulos filed a $1.7 million lawsuit alleging high-level corruption in AHS health contracts and procurement bids.

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Mentzelopoulos was fired just over a year into a four-year contract. The suit alleges she was terminated because she authorized an audit and internal investigation into AHS procurement processes.

LaGrange, Deputy Minister of Health and interim AHS CEO Andre Trembley – who replaced the entire AHS board after it was fired a few weeks after Mentzelopoulos – and Premier Danielle Smith’s former chief of staff Marshall Smith are all named in the suit.

The allegations have not been tested in court. LaGrange has called most of the allegations false and said she will be filing a statement of defence.

AHS and Alberta’s auditor general are now investigating.

Bradley LaFortune, executive director of Public Interest Alberta, said, due to the level of trust that has been broken, LaGrange cannot remain as health minister during the investigation.

The Alberta NDP have also called for her resignation, while Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie said LaGrange and Trembley should be moved to another portfolio while the scandal is being investigated.

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Premier Smith has repeatedly expressed continuing support for LaGrange. On her Saturday radio show, Smith said LaGrange would be removed from making decisions relating to the file but would remain health minister.

“I think she’s doing such amazing and important work on the refocus of the health-care system. This is a very crucial period of time these next six months, and I need her to continue with that,” Smith added. “You can’t make a rash decision until you know if there’s any wrongdoing.”

“It’s interesting to hear the premier say that minister LaGrange can continue to be the health minister while still also removing herself from any involvement with the investigation,” LaFortune said. “We don’t believe that’s possible.

“That doesn’t make any sense, which is why we’ve written to the deputy commissioner of the RCMP to launch an immediate investigation.”

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On Friday, Smith said deputy minister of executive council Chris McPherson would hire a third-party to investigate independently of AHS or the province. The results of that investigation would be released to McPherson.

LaFortune said it’s imperative the results of that investigation be made public in a fully transparent manner.

“These allegations touch the office of the premier, and the premier needs to be committed to releasing any and all investigation into this scandal, directly to the public,” he said. “Anything else would be completely unacceptable.”

With files from CTV News Calgary’s Brendan Ellis and The Canadian Press