(rdnewsNOW/ Ian Gustafson)

By Ian Gustafson

Alleged corruption

Rally held in Red Deer calling for LaGrange to resign amid AHS allegations

Feb 8, 2025 | 1:27 PM

Red Deerians held a rally near Alberta Minister of Health and MLA for Red Deer- North Adriana LaGrange’s office along 50 Avenue on Saturday morning.

The group of approximately 100 Albertans called for LaGrange to resign amid allegations of corruption by Alberta Health Services procurement and contracting processes.

Organizer of the event Bradley Lafortune, who works as executive director of Public Interest Alberta, said they held the rally to send a message to people across the province that enough is enough when it comes to corruption in healthcare.

“This is probably the biggest scandal that I’ve heard of in my lifetime. We’re talking about $600 million that’s gone to one group for private surgeries and medicine. It’s all been done in the dark,” he said.

“I think Albertans want some answers and quite frankly the buck stops with the health minister and the buck stops with the premier. It’s time for them to step aside. This is also at a time where our healthcare system is really under stress.”

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The group also called for those in charge to end the alleged corruption in healthcare.

“There’s a lot of other places that money could be going to actually serve Albertans and that’s why we’re out here today,” he added.

The news of alleged corruption came out in a Globe and Mail report which cited a letter from the lawyer for Athana Mentzelopoulos, who was fired in January as CEO of Alberta Health Services.

The letter accused the United Conservative Party government of wide-ranging corruption, including inflating contracts for private surgery providers, conflicts of interest, and firing Mentzelopoulos because she tried to investigate.

Alberta’s auditor general, Doug Wylie, said earlier this week that he is investigating the circumstances.

rdnewsNOW reached out to the office of LaGrange but they did not respond to a request for comment.

Lafortune said he organized the event in less than 24 hours and wanted to hold the rally because of his passion for the province.

“People are struggling right now. It’s a prosperous and amazing place but this government is governing for themselves, for friends, and insiders,” he said.

“I care about Alberta and quite frankly, we can’t wait another couple of years for the ballot box. Democracy needs to happen right now. We need some accountability.”

Lafortune added the investigation needs to be done by a third party and not by the auditor general. He hopes to see it done by the RCMP or through a judicial review, not done by anyone who’s been appointed by Smith.

“It’s not really a partisan issue here. You see these people here and they’re average people from our community who are pissed off and want transparency.”

Meanwhile, Premier Danielle Smith released a statement in response to the allegations on Saturday calling them troubling.

“They should be reviewed as quickly as possible,” Smith said.

“To that end, I will be writing Auditor General Doug Wylie to ask for an expedited review and his findings on this issue. I have also directed my officials to ensure that any request for information from Mr. Wylie or his office is dealt with on a fully transparent and expedited basis. We need to get to the bottom of this issue quickly to identify any potential wrongdoing, correct it, and address it appropriately.”

Smith also asked that AHS’s internal review to be completed as quickly as possible and delivered directly to her so they can study the findings and make improvements. In addition, Smith said she was not involved in any wrongdoing and that any insinuations to the contrary are false and defamatory.

“Until these findings are delivered, AHS has paused the contracting for the surgical facilities under review,” Smith added.

“It’s no secret I have been unhappy with the level and quality of service delivered by AHS and in the inability of AHS to deliver quality and timely healthcare to Albertans. I will continue to relentlessly push forward to make improvements. Although that has required difficult decisions and major change, I do not accept the current results. There is a widespread and deep-seated resistance to change that we must overcome.

“That’s my goal: better healthcare for all.”

Leader of the Alberta NDP Naheed Nenshi released a statement in response to Smith’s calling the premier’s message a “non-statement.”

Nenshi also called for a full RCMP investigation. His team has already written to the RCMP, the auditor general, and Alberta’s ethics commissioner to demand these investigations. He’s asked for an independent, judicial-led public inquiry.

“The Premier needs to answer questions directly from Albertans. Instead, she hides behind a statement. It took her four days to say anything. And then she says she will do nothing beyond what’s already happening,” he said.

“This is simply not good enough. Her own office is implicated. The investigation can’t be handed over to the people being investigated. How dumb does she think Albertans are?

“An AHS inquiry that only reports to the acting CEO, who only reports to himself as official administrator and who only reports to himself as deputy minister, is at this point worse than worthless. He himself is named in the allegations.

“Danielle Smith would prefer to sweep this under the rug and do a quick and dirty investigation. We won’t let them get away with that.

“While all of these investigations are ongoing, the Premier, Health Minister, Mental Health and Addiction Minister, the Acting CEO/Administrator/Deputy Minister, and all those implicated need to do the right thing and step aside now to ensure that these investigations will be conducted without political interference.

“The former AHS staff and board members must also be freed from any gag orders so they can tell us what really happened. Albertans expect no less. And Premier: Albertans deserve better.”

-With files from The Canadian Press

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