The Prime Minister of Alberta, Danielle Smith, says that she still has confidence in the Minister of Health, Adriana Lagrange Alberta health services (Ahs).
Addressing journalists on Wednesday morning during a trip to Washington, DC, with the Prime Ministers of Canada, Smith said that she had first learned of the allegations against her office and the Minister of Health when she has seen relationships in the media.
The allegations were described in a letter sent by the lawyer for the former CEO of Ahs, Athana Mentzellopoulos, as indicated first by the Globe and Mail.
He alleys that AHS was forced to approve the private contracts and that the former CEO was dismissed two days before a meeting with the auditor to discuss his concerns concerning private surgery and supply contracts.
Allegations are under investigation by the province’s auditor.
“We are interested in hearing what the auditor general has to say,” said Smith when he asked the scandal at a press conference.
“We have already configured a shared file so that they can get all the documents that we must see if there are reprehensible acts. If there are reprehensible acts, we would like to go to the bottom. And if there is none, we must find out why Ahs is on the path of our surgical site, ”added Smith.
In the letter, obtained by the Globe and Mail, Mentzellopoulos alleys that throughout 2024, it was forced by various provincial officials, including Marshall Smith, then the chief of staff of the Prime Minister, to sign contracts for surgical installations private despite the concerns about the quantity to be paid and who took advantage of it.
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But Smith said that she had not seen any indication of reprehensible acts.
It was the first time that journalists have had the opportunity to question Smith about the scandal.
The only previous comments in which she made was An article on social networks in which she called “disturbing” allegations and said she asked the general auditor an “accelerated exam”.
In the position of social media, Smith also insisted that it was “not involved in any reprehensible act” and declared that “any innuendo is false, baseless and defamatory”.
The NPD in Alberta calls on the RCMP to investigate and called on the government of Smith to win back the legislative assembly to deal with what it calls “allegations of corruption unlike all that this province has ever seen”.
NPD chief, Naheed Nenshi, called allegations “Shocking political interference” And insisted that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health should withdraw to allow surveys to occur without political interference.
The letter, sent by Mentzellopoulos lawyer, said that it had concerns about “a considerable increase in costs” on a contract with the Alberta Surgical Group, which manages a private surgical installation in South Edmonton.
The letter also raised allegations of a conflict of interest surrounding a member of AHS staff who also had a messaging account at Mhcare Medical.
He said that the medical supplies and other companies associated with its CEO Sam Mraiche made $ 614 million with the province.
MHCARE MEDICAL made the headlines after obtaining a $ 70 million contract to obtain children’s pain relievers from Türkiye in 2022.
Alberta received approximately 30% of the order despite total payment, and Ahs then stopped using the medication received due to security problems.
Following the medication contract, Mraiche also provided several ministers from the office and government staff with luxury chest tickets for the EDMONTON Oilers qualifying matches.
– with Kabi Moulitharan and Canadian press files
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