Alberta Prime Minister Danielle Smith says he has not seen evidence of irregularities in Alberta Health Services amid accusations of conflicts of interest within the provincial health authority.
Speaking from Washington on Wednesday, Smith told journalists that he supports an investigation by Alberta General Auditor on how Ahs acquires and grants contracts.
Smith said he first learned about the accusations when a report was published last week in the world and mail.
Smith said he continues to have confidence in Alberta Minister of Health, Adriana Lagrange, and hopes to see the completed research.
There are no indications of irregularities, says Smith
“We have been asking for eight months for anyone, as I understand my Minister of Health, for any indication of irregularities,” said Smith.
“We have not seen any. So I think we have to do if there is any irregularity, and if there is, then we have to clean it.”
Alberta General Auditor, Doug Wylie, has launched an investigation into the acquisition and hiring processes within the health authority of the province to address “concerns or accusations related to hiring and possible conflicts of interest.”
Wylie announced the review last week after AHS’s dismissed CEO claimed that there was political interference within the agency.
The investigation began days before the Globe and Mail reported a letter from the Athana Mentzelopoulos lawyer, who was fired as executive director of AHS a year in a period of four years.
Mentzelopoulos said that he had been fired days before he was scheduled to meet with the General Auditor to discuss his own research on acquisition contracts and agreements for private surgical facilities.
In the letter, Mentzelopoulos said that he faced the pressure and interference of government officials.
Speaking of Washington, Alberta Prime Minister Danielle Smith told journalists to support Alberta General Auditor on how contracts are acquired and granted by Alberta Health Services. She says she has not seen evidence of irregularities in AHS amid accusations of conflicts of interest within the provincial health authority.
Mentzelopoulos also said that the province pressed it to renew the circular contracts.
CBC News has read the letter that Mentzelopoulos sent to AHS and verified its content. Mentzelopoulos has not commented on his statements.
Smith has described the accusations as worrying and has said that he will ask the Wylie office to accelerate the review.
On Wednesday, Smith said that provincial government officials continue to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
“We are interested in listening to what the general auditor has to say,” said Smith on Wednesday.
“We have already configured a shared file so that all the documents that we have to do if there is any irregularity can be obtained.
“If there are bad actions, we would like to get to the bottom.”
In a statement on Saturday, Smith said he would also urge Ahs to complete his internal review of the accusations as quickly as possible. An independent third will be brought to help in the internal review made by AHS.
Until the findings are delivered, AHS has stopped the hiring of surgical facilities under review.
The accusations have caused the protest of the defenders of the health and political opposition of Alberta.
In a statement on Wednesday, Alberta’s NDP asked Smith to immediately convey the provincial legislature to address the accusations.
“The prime minister must rebuild the legislature immediately so that this problem can approach where it belongs, under public scrutiny,” said Rakhi Pancholi, an alberta ndp attached leader.
Smith is expected to be in Washington DC with other prime minister ministers to campaign against the threat of tariffs, return to Alberta on Thursday.
