(Government of Alberta)

By The Canadian Press

Provincial Politics

Smith denies quashing Hinshaw hiring

Dec 19, 2023 | 9:47 AM

EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says it wasn’t her decision to quash the hiring of the province’s former chief medical health officer.

Smith was responding to questions following a Globe and Mail story that quoted a resignation letter from former Alberta Health Services senior executive Dr. Braden Manns.

In the letter from June, Manns says he quit his position to protest what he says was Smith’s interference in reversing the decision to hire Dr. Deena Hinshaw for a job with the Indigenous Wellness Core of A-H-S.

Smith, asked twice by reporters if she interfered, says she talked with former A-H-S administrator John Cowell on a weekly basis about staffing decisions but would only say all final decisions remained with the agency.

The Opposition NDP says political interference into hiring at AHS is completely unacceptable and that Smith and her government must be held accountable.

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Cowell has left his job as A-H-S administrator.

Smith has hired a new board of directors to oversee a massive restructuring of health delivery.

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