MLA banished from UCP questions Alberta premier’s refusal to call judicial review of procurement scandal

Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie. (CTV News Edmonton)

The Alberta MLA who was removed from the United Conservative Party (UCP) caucus last week after it determined he didn’t have allegiance to it says he is protesting Premier Danielle Smith’s refusal to call a judicial review into a procurement scandal at Alberta Health Services.

Peter Guthrie, who was removed from caucus April 16 by the UCP almost two months after he quit cabinet over his concerns with the government’s procurement practices, said in a letter he posted Wednesday afternoon on social media that Smith’s stance denying a review “cannot be defended or supported.”

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“The Premier staunchly refuses to be transparent and initiate a judicial review, the very thing to restore public confidence through a formal legal judgement,” Guthrie, the MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane and the former minister of infrastructure, wrote in Wednesday’s letter.

Guthrie said in the letter that the province’s commissioned investigation is unlikely to gain public trust because it is “limited by a narrow mandate designed to deflect criticism rather than uncovering the truth.”

“I made it clear that this review resembles a classic ‘Whitewash Report,’ seemingly designed to conceal wrongdoing rather than expose it -- an approach that risks triggering serious accusations of a coverup.”

Guthrie also mentioned “the troubling lack of fiscal responsibility within Executive Council” that he says has contributed to a projected deficit of $5.4 billion.

In a statement to CTV News Edmonton, the premier’s press secretary said Guthrie “is entitled to hold and voice his own opinions.”

“These allegations surrounding AHS procurement are under review by various bodies, including the Auditor General and an independent review by former Manitoba chief judge Raymond E. Wyant,” Sam Blackett wrote on Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re going to let these processes conclude and await their recommendations.”

Guthrie resigned as infrastructure minister in February and is accusing Smith and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange of deliberately misleading a Jan. 30 cabinet committee meeting over procurement issues.

Answering questions in the legislature for the first time as an independent member on Thursday, Guthrie said at that meeting there was no mention of a previous Alberta Health Services investigation into questionable contracts with private surgical facilities.

He said there was no reference to the former AHS CEO’s Jan. 20 letter to the health agency, which included allegations of political meddling.

And, Guthrie said, there was no indication the auditor general had been notified of concerns.

Guthrie said he believed the meeting resulted in the dismissal of the health authority’s board, a move the government announced Jan. 31.

“Is withholding information from cabinet considered (the) normal course of business?” he said.

LaGrange said Guthrie has it wrong.

“The member opposite is misguided, misinformed and misinterpreted the context of that meeting,” she said.

Facing heated questions from the Opposition NDP, Smith was unequivocal: “No one was misled.”

The premier said the meeting was to talk about standing up the new Acute Care Alberta organization as part of the province’s massive revamping of the health-care system, how to wind down the “transition” board because it was no longer needed at AHS, and appointing an interim CEO to replace Athana Mentzelopoulos, the fired head of AHS who is suing the government.

Mentzelopoulos’s lawsuit claims she was wrongfully fired Jan. 8 for looking into sweetheart deals and collusion in multimillion-dollar health contracts — two days before she was set to meet with the auditor general to discuss her concerns.

The government and AHS have alleged Mentzelopoulos was fired because she was failing in her job and working to stop mandated health reform.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

With files from The Canadian Press