By rdnewsNOW staff

Provincial Politics

RCMP launch probe amid allegations of corruption in Alberta health contracts

Mar 6, 2025 | 3:04 PM

Mounties in Alberta say they’ve launched an investigation following a complaint regarding Alberta Health Services.

They won’t provide further details, but the investigation follows allegations from the agency’s former CEO that there was high-level arm-twisting, possible conflicts of interest and corruption in multimillion-dollar health deals, according to The Canadian Press.

The province is currently being sued for wrongful dismissal by Athana Mentzelopoulos, who claims she was fired in January for looking into the contract overpays for private surgical providers.

She says too that she faced political pressure from high-up to approve new deals despite outstanding questions surrounding exorbitant costs and who stood to gain something from them.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

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Alberta’s auditor general and Smith’s government have also launched their own probes into the contracts.

Both Smith and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

In a statement to Pattison Media on Thursday, on behalf of Smith and LaGrange’s offices, the ministries say the following:

“The Government of Alberta is unaware of the identity of any party under RCMP investigation, but will provide the required cooperation to the RCMP should the government be requested to do so. We refer any further inquiries regarding this matter to the RCMP as it would be entirely inappropriate for the Government to comment on an ongoing police investigation.”

The NDP, meanwhile are pleased to hear the news.

“We are happy the RCMP is investigating. These allegations of bloated contracts are incredibly serious, and we’re glad to see them being treated as such,” NDP leader Naheed Nenshi said Thursday.

“We have faith in the RCMP investigation and encourage the government to be fully transparent, much more than they have been to date in this CorruptCare scandal.”

Public Interest Alberta (PIA), meantime, says it’s relieved that the RCMP sees the seriousness of the scandal.

“Now, it is incumbent on the RCMP to ensure they move swiftly and thoroughly, investigating all potential actors in this growing scandal, including the Office of Premier Danielle Smith, the Office of the Health Minister, Adriana LaGrange, and all others named in the allegations,” says Bradley Lafortune, executive director.

“We standby to support this investigation in the interest of democracy, accountability, and transparency. Albertans deserve nothing less.”

Thursday, the PIA provided to media a March 6 email from the RCMP which states that a complaint was received Feb. 6, then a review took place, and now it has become an investigation, it states.

(with files from The Canadian Press)

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