Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi isn't taking half measures on his mission to discredit Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the UCP and Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange over controversy at Alberta Health Services (AHS).
On Tuesday, Nenshi issued a statement saying the allegations surrounding AHS' procurement of health services — notably with private surgical facilities — have gone from "incredibly bad to even worse."
Nenshi provided no evidence of government wrongdoing outside of hearsay and conjecture — saying there exist allegations of "political gross corruption."
“The 2012 version of Danielle Smith railed against corruption and hypocrisy every day," he said in the statement. "But the 2025 version of Danielle Smith doesn’t seem to care."
Smith supports an investigation into the matter.
“There are new allegations that the Minister of Health, Adriana LaGrange, was involved in dictating the price that AHS was to pay for multi-million-dollar contracts and ordered AHS to shut down and cover up its internal investigations," said Nenshi.
Alberta's healthcare system is currently undergoing major restructuring, which has become a flashpoint of controversy at AHS.
The province announced plans to dismantle the current structure of AHS, which was the province's centralized health authority. The move aims to reorganize health service delivery into four entities — Acute Care, Primary Care, Continuing Care and Mental Health and Addiction Services.
AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos was dismissed on January 8 shortly before she was scheduled to meet with the auditor-general to discuss her investigation into AHS contracts and procurement processes.
She alleged her firing was due to probing into questionable contracts, including those with private surgical facilities.
The entire AHS board was fired on January 31, following Mentzelopoulos providing an update on her investigation, which the board recommended taking to the RCMP for scrutiny.
The Globe and Mail reported that LaGrange stripped the health agency of its power to negotiate private surgical contracts.
“If these allegations are true, Adriana LaGrange, with the apparent support of the premier and her office, ordered the coverup of investigations into the worst corruption Alberta has ever seen," said Nenshi.
“This is shocking political interference that inflates the prices taxpayers pay while reducing the quality of the services they receive. At minimum, the premier and health minister must step aside to allow the investigations to occur without political interference. And if they want to resign, that should be on the table too."
Smith called for an expedited review by the auditor general, offering government cooperation. She also ordered AHS to complete an internal review and deliver findings.
In a statement, LaGrange's office said the recent changes to AHS leadership were made to ensure a proper transition without impacting patient care as AHS is transformed from Alberta’s health care system administrator to being solely a provider of health care services under Alberta’s new Acute Care Agency.
"This is evidenced by the fact that since learning of potential concerns with CSF procurement, Alberta’s government repeatedly asked AHS for documentation to substantiate the concerns that were raised."
LaGrange's office added, "It was extremely concerning that no substantive information and documentation had been provided to the government after nearly 8 months of requesting it, and that is why Minister Adriana LaGrange issued a directive in December to compel AHS to share all details related to CSF contracts and contracting with Alberta Health."
"This was not about shutting down the review AHS had started; to the contrary, it was about understanding whether there was actual evidence of the problems raised by the former CEO of AHS, or whether AHS management was simply attempting to disrupt the growth of CSFs in the health system."