Alberta MLA Peter Guthrie, expelled from the UCP caucus on Wednesday amid the “CorruptCare” scandal, released his executive council resignation letter dated February 25 — and it casts a shadow over Premier Danielle Smith, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, and the UCP government.
However, allegations only become fact when tested in court — and that day is coming, given the $1.7-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the province from former Alberta Health Services (AHS) CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos.
The “CorruptCare” scandal involves allegations of corruption in AHS procurement, focusing on inflated private surgical contracts. Sparked by Mentzelopoulos’s January lawsuit, she claimed termination for probing questionable deals.
“It became clear that the minister of health, and possibly even you premier, had knowledge of identified procurement issues involving AH and AHS, yet you deliberately misled our reduced quorum Health Cabinet Committee on January 30th,” wrote Guthrie in his resignation letter.
“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."
The NDP alleges UCP interference in AHS contracts. Investigations by the RCMP, auditor general and a third-party reviewer are ongoing, but Smith denies wrongdoing.
Guthrie resigned as infrastructure minister, then voted for a public inquiry on April 14, citing transparency needs, escalating tensions within the UCP.
“The former AHS CEO saw that there were different prices being paid to different service providers for the same service,” said Smith in the government’s defence during question period on Wednesday.
“And so, the minister encouraged her to try to get to the bottom of why that was. The former AHS CEO was never able to identify that there had been anything wrong, no wrongdoing had been done, and that’s why we’re now launching an investigation.”
Marshall Smith, former chief of staff to Danielle Smith, is implicated in the “CorruptCare” scandal. Mentzelopoulos alleges in her lawsuit that Marshall Smith pressured her to approve costly contracts for private surgical facilities despite concerns over inflated costs and ownership.
Her lawsuit claims he demanded firings of AHS staff critical of the government, citing “powerful people” being upset. It is said Mentzelopoulos was fired shortly before meeting the auditor general to discuss her investigation, which the AHS board allegedly recommended she take to the RCMP.
Marshall Smith, who left his role in 2024, denied the allegations, calling them “outrageous and false” and stating procurement is handled by the public service, not political staff.