Alberta health scandal: Smith and LaGrange ‘deliberately misled’ cabinet, former minister alleges

It was another day and another round of health contract scandal allegations at the Alberta legislature Thursday.A photo posted by former UCP MLA Scott Sinclar set off the latest firestorm.It shows Sinclair, Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery and staffers from the premier’s office dressed in Oilers gear – all smiles and thumbs up – at a Stanley Cup final match in Florida.

The Alberta NDP grilled the UCP government on the June 2024 photo.“Who did the minister of justice sit with at Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in Florida?” asked official Opposition Leader Christina Gray.“It’s nobody’s business if they are taking a trip with their own personal expenses, on their own personal time,” replied Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.



Alberta UCP ministers Mickey Amery (second to left) and Scott Sinclair (right) with UCP staffers at an Oilers playoff game in Florida in June 2024. The photo was cropped by CityNews to remove Sinclair’s family, including two children. (Courtesy: Facebook/Scott Sinclair)But the NDP believes Albertans are owed an explanation and receipts, because the premier and government ministers have admitted to accepting other free hockey tickets.

Some even took them from a company that inked over $600 million in health-care deals with the province.“Albertans would be forgiven for asking the critical question: what else are they hiding?” asked Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi.There are some photos circulating of Alberta MLAs and gov’t staffers at an Oilers playoff game in Florida.

Minister Amery’s spokesperson provided me with the following statement...

#ableg #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/MWh4OD1el9— Sean Amato (@JSJamato) April 17, 2025Sinclair, the Lesser Slave Lake MLA who was kicked out of the UCP for criticizing the budget, recently posted the photo to his Facebook.

“I went with my family, we went on a short vacation after to Disney,” Sinclair said. “I have all the receipts. I can’t speak for anyone else about how they got there and who they went with.

”CityNews asked the premier’s office if the justice minister paid for his own flights, hotels and tickets. “The staff and minister who travelled to attend the Oilers game in Florida paid their own expenses,” press secretary Sam Blackett responded.‘Normalizing deception’That was just one controversy Thursday.

The other was a letter — dated Feb. 25 — from now-former UCP cabinet minister Peter Guthrie, who made it public Wednesday after being kicked out of caucus.It accuses Premier Smith and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange of lying about why the board of Alberta Health Services (AHS) was fired, and accuses them of “normalizing deception in government business practices.

”“At cabinet on Wednesday, it became clear that the minister of health, and possibly even you premier, had knowledge of procurement issues involving AH (Alberta Health) and AHS, yet you deliberately misled our reduced quorum Health Cabinet committee (HPGCC) on Jan. 30,” the letter from the Airdrie-Cochrane MLA reads.“This deception resulted in the dismissal of the AHS board.

During that committee meeting I expressed my concerns requesting further disclosure, but none was forthcoming.”Alberta’s health minister fired back Thursday, saying Guthrie was “misguided, misinformed and misinterpreted the context of that meeting.”Background:Alberta’s Smith resists calls from NDP to pull lawyers from health probe processReport highlights cost of Alberta’s private surgical contracts amid gov’t corruption scandalHealth agency head rebuts Alberta government’s defence in wrongful dismissal lawsuitRCMP launch probe into AHS amid government corruption allegationsBlackett offered more nuance in an emailed statement to CityNews.

“The meeting was for the purpose of enabling the appointment of an interim CEO and official administrator of AHS to support the transition of AHS to a hospital-based service provider and the standing up of Acute Care Alberta,” he wrote. “There was no information withheld from the HPGCC relevant to this issue.“The termination of the former CEO of AHS (Athana Mentzelopoulos) was not related to this meeting in any way.

”Neither was Mentzelopoulos’ dismissal related to an investigation into procurement matters at AHS, Blackett adds.“The province repeatedly asked for substantive information and details and then, when no details were provided, directed the former AHS CEO to share the results of her investigation so they could be addressed in a timely fashion,” Blackett said. “However, the former CEO never provided the minister with any substantive details about the findings of her investigation despite repeated requests by the minister for those details.

”Health Minister LaGrange is continuing to deny any wrongdoing while refusing calls from the NDP to quit.“I will not resign,” she said.“There are numerous investigations.

I am just as concerned and anxious and eager to get the results of those investigations.”Political scientist Lori Williams says the government would help its credibility by calling a public inquiry so Albertans get definitive answers from an investigator with the power to compel testimony.“Peter Guthrie is asking questions that Albertans are asking,” said Williams of Mount Royal University.

“And the fact that he’s now been ejected for asking those questions means that the government looks like it’s trying to avoid giving the answers.”The retired Manitoba judge hired by the government to investigate is not expected to release his interim report until the end of May, meaning the scandal is likely to continue for weeks or even months.The NDP says it will keep hammering the government on this until Christmas, if necessary.

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