Alberta Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler opened an inquiry into former chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw’s appointment to an indigenous health team being revoked. While the timing and status of the investigation is unclear, two people who resigned to protest what they saw as interference told CBC News on Monday they were interviewed by Trussler in October. These people were former Alberta Health Services (AHS) indigenous wellness medical lead Dr. Esther Tailfeathers and former senior executive Dr. Braden Manns. Trussler said in letters sent to Tailfeathers and Manns in August she was investigating the revocation of the appointment of Hinshaw, but she gave no further information on the scope of the investigation. The controversy centred around the revocation of a job offer for Hinshaw in June — days before she was to start a new role with Indigenous Wellness Core (IWC). This role was posted in January and a selection committee evaluated a shortlist of candidates. Tailfeathers said the role was a key part of a strategy to advance indigenous healthcare in Alberta. “In order to drive a strategy forward and begin to make public health measures, we needed a public health physician,” she said. The committee selected Hinshaw because of her background in public health policy and her excellent relationships with indigenous leaders. The approval to hire her came from former AHS administrator Dr. John Cowell. Manns said it was an unusual approval for a role not overseeing other positions. This was due to the unique sensitivities around her, as she was a high-profile, controversial figure during the COVID-19 pandemic as the Alberta chief medical officer of health until Premier Danielle Smith took over. Smith removed Hinshaw from her position as chief medical officer of health in 2022.READ MORE: Smith fires Hinshaw as Alberta chief medical officerFormer Cancer Care Alberta, Clinical Support Services and Provincial Clinical Excellence vice-president and medical director Dr. Mark Joffe was put in her place. “Dr. Joffe has dedicated himself to improving the health of Albertans throughout his career,” said former Alberta health minister Jason Copping. In June, an internal announcement welcoming Hinshaw to the new job was shared within AHS. The memo was leaked online, prompting outrage among Smith’s supporters. Tailfeathers and Manns said she was removed soon after. AHS responded to the removal in June by saying it did not speak to personnel matters. “Dr. Hinshaw is not employed by AHS,” it said. “AHS is reviewing the position and remains firmly committed to working with indigenous communities and working to improve health outcomes for all communities and populations.”.Tailfeathers and Manns resigned from AHS in protest. They described the move as a heavy-handed blow to indigenous healthcare, as it was impractical and could harm trust between indigenous communities and healthcare institutions. “It crossed my red line and not just by a little,” said Manns. They appeared on separate occasions before Trussler in October. They were instructed to bring all documentation and correspondence related to the appointment and dismissal of Hinshaw. By law, any report produced by her would be given to the Office of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, which is required to present it to MLAs when in session and to make copies available when it is not sitting. The Officer of the Speaker said it had not received a report. Tailfeathers said she views Hinshaw’s removal as part of a broader ethical failing. When it comes to the larger picture, she said it “is unethical for us in Alberta not to do anything about the drug poisoning deaths that we’re seeing and the rising mortality rate and the fact that indigenous people make up a large portion of those who are dying.”“Our population is dying seven times more than the non-indigenous population in this province,” she said.“In order to drive a strategy forward and begin to make public health measures, we needed a public health physician.”Manns said he felt rescinding Hinshaw’s contract “was unethical and it was wrong for many reasons.”“This was saying that Dr. Hinshaw, who's a physician, that she can never work in Alberta again,” he said. Smith responded by saying she put Cowell in place to make these decisions. “I talked with him on a weekly basis,” said Smith. “We talked about staffing decisions a lot and we have a major restructuring that we’re doing in Alberta Health Services as well.”.When it comes to these decisions, she said AHS administration makes them. This is because AHS decisions are reserved for it. Alberta NDP MLA Irfan Sabir (Calgary-Bhullar-McCall) accused Smith of having a track record of political interference and unethical behaviour. “This latest revelation about her efforts to terminate Dr. Deena Hinshaw’s contract in the days following the provincial election is yet another example of her personal disregard for ethics and the rule of law,” said Sabir. “Earlier this year, Danielle Smith was caught interfering in the legal system to help Artur Pawlowski with his criminal charges and now we are learning about her interference in AHS arising from even more inappropriate calls made to AHS less than two weeks after last May’s election.”.What Sabir found more concerning was around the time Trussler was meeting with former AHS officials about her alleged unethical behaviour, the Alberta United Conservative Party and the Office of the Premier of Alberta were leading efforts to to replace her. He called for her to come clean on whether she has been investigated a second time for political interference and must stop the efforts to terminate her job.
