Danielle Smith has much bigger things than tariffs to worry about now
Gary Mason National affairs columnist
Published 45 minutes ago
[url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-danielle-smith-has-much-bigger-things-than-tariffs-to-worry-about-now/[/url]
After four days of remaining silent while crisis engulfed her government, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith finally overcame her reticence over the weekend to declare that she is not a crook.
Of course, she didn’t use those words precisely in her statement on Saturday, responding to the health care scandal subsuming her United Conservative Party government. But any reasonable distillation of her remarks would conclude that is precisely what she is saying.
“As Premier, I was not involved in any wrongdoing,” Ms. Smith ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/topics/danielle-smith/[/url]) said in a post on X. “Any insinuation to the contrary is false, baseless and defamatory.”
Beyond declaring her innocence, her statement was surely intended to send a chill down the spine of journalists pursuing the story. Be careful what you write or broadcast because government lawyers will be watching.
Perhaps that’s not a surprising tactic given the amount of time the Premier has spent in the U.S. in recent weeks on bended knee to President Donald Trump, who has taken to suing journalists who cross him. In the Premier’s case, though, I’m not sure veiled threats are going to help much.
Last week, The Globe and Mail’s Carrie Tait reported ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-ousted-health-services-ceo-amid-probe-into-medical-contracts/[/url]) that former Alberta Health Services (AHS) CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos made a series of highly charged allegations about health care procurement in the province, in a letter sent to the agency last month by her lawyer. Ms. Mentzelopoulos was fired by the government two days before she was to meet with the Auditor-General to discuss her concerns.
It’s alleged that government officials, including Ms. Smith’s then-chief of staff, Marshall Smith, pressured Ms. Mentzelopoulos to approve procurement deals with friends of the UCP that cost more than comparable options.
Those allegedly benefiting from these deals include businessman Sam Mraiche, who hosted senior advisers to Ms. Smith and also members of her cabinet in a private luxury box at Edmonton Oilers playoff games last year. Companies connected with Mr. Mraiche did $614-million worth of business with AHS, Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s investigation alleges.
The AHS board had, in fact, urged Ms. Mentzelopoulos – a seasoned bureaucrat of impeccable reputation – to go to the RCMP with her concerns. But because of her dismissal, she never got that opportunity.
The Premier said in her statement that she’s asked her staff to co-operate fully with the investigation now under way by the Auditor-General, Doug Wylie. She’s asked for his report to be in her hands as quickly as possible.
But of course, Mr. Wylie reports to the legislature and not the Premier’s office. And I would say that given that this scandal appears to involve the highest reaches of the Smith government, including the Premier’s office, she should not be anywhere near the final report until it is released publicly. Nor should any investigation be rushed.
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi is calling for all sorts of inquiries. He wants the RCMP involved. He agrees with the Auditor-General being involved. At some point, people are going to need to swear statements under oath, I would think.
Already, there are some dismissing Ms. Smith’s denials. Former NDP leader Rachel Notley, for one, says Ms. Smith’s claims that she knew nothing about the allegations don’t ring true. The former premier said the AHS board and Ms. Mentzelopoulos were fired by order-in-council – i.e. the cabinet. The Premier chairs cabinet. Unless she was asleep or in the washroom when these firings were discussed, she had to have known something about the reasons behind the moves, Ms. Notley suggested.
Ms. Notley also believes that the RCMP should be brought in now. When you are talking about the potential abuse of public funds, about possible corruption involving hundreds of millions of dollars, then the public deserves to have the matter examined by authorities they can trust – who are removed from any influence of politics. It’s hard to disagree with that.
Ms. Smith has as solid a recollection of recent political history in Alberta as anyone. She would remember that her one-time nemesis, Progressive Conservative premier Alison Redford, was brought down over government flights her daughter took and plans she hatched to build a condominium near the legislature in Edmonton (dubbed the “sky palace”) to be used by the sitting premier of the day.
Over the years, it hasn’t taken much to get the public riled up and for politicians, including premiers, to be ushered out the door.
The allegations being made in this case make the Redford affair look almost quaint by comparison. They will hang like the sword of Damocles over the Smith government until the matter is fully investigated by trusted third parties.
?
Gary Mason National affairs columnist
Published 45 minutes ago
[url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-danielle-smith-has-much-bigger-things-than-tariffs-to-worry-about-now/[/url]
After four days of remaining silent while crisis engulfed her government, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith finally overcame her reticence over the weekend to declare that she is not a crook.
Of course, she didn’t use those words precisely in her statement on Saturday, responding to the health care scandal subsuming her United Conservative Party government. But any reasonable distillation of her remarks would conclude that is precisely what she is saying.
“As Premier, I was not involved in any wrongdoing,” Ms. Smith ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/topics/danielle-smith/[/url]) said in a post on X. “Any insinuation to the contrary is false, baseless and defamatory.”
Beyond declaring her innocence, her statement was surely intended to send a chill down the spine of journalists pursuing the story. Be careful what you write or broadcast because government lawyers will be watching.
Perhaps that’s not a surprising tactic given the amount of time the Premier has spent in the U.S. in recent weeks on bended knee to President Donald Trump, who has taken to suing journalists who cross him. In the Premier’s case, though, I’m not sure veiled threats are going to help much.
Last week, The Globe and Mail’s Carrie Tait reported ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-ousted-health-services-ceo-amid-probe-into-medical-contracts/[/url]) that former Alberta Health Services (AHS) CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos made a series of highly charged allegations about health care procurement in the province, in a letter sent to the agency last month by her lawyer. Ms. Mentzelopoulos was fired by the government two days before she was to meet with the Auditor-General to discuss her concerns.
It’s alleged that government officials, including Ms. Smith’s then-chief of staff, Marshall Smith, pressured Ms. Mentzelopoulos to approve procurement deals with friends of the UCP that cost more than comparable options.
Those allegedly benefiting from these deals include businessman Sam Mraiche, who hosted senior advisers to Ms. Smith and also members of her cabinet in a private luxury box at Edmonton Oilers playoff games last year. Companies connected with Mr. Mraiche did $614-million worth of business with AHS, Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s investigation alleges.
The AHS board had, in fact, urged Ms. Mentzelopoulos – a seasoned bureaucrat of impeccable reputation – to go to the RCMP with her concerns. But because of her dismissal, she never got that opportunity.
The Premier said in her statement that she’s asked her staff to co-operate fully with the investigation now under way by the Auditor-General, Doug Wylie. She’s asked for his report to be in her hands as quickly as possible.
But of course, Mr. Wylie reports to the legislature and not the Premier’s office. And I would say that given that this scandal appears to involve the highest reaches of the Smith government, including the Premier’s office, she should not be anywhere near the final report until it is released publicly. Nor should any investigation be rushed.
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi is calling for all sorts of inquiries. He wants the RCMP involved. He agrees with the Auditor-General being involved. At some point, people are going to need to swear statements under oath, I would think.
Already, there are some dismissing Ms. Smith’s denials. Former NDP leader Rachel Notley, for one, says Ms. Smith’s claims that she knew nothing about the allegations don’t ring true. The former premier said the AHS board and Ms. Mentzelopoulos were fired by order-in-council – i.e. the cabinet. The Premier chairs cabinet. Unless she was asleep or in the washroom when these firings were discussed, she had to have known something about the reasons behind the moves, Ms. Notley suggested.
Ms. Notley also believes that the RCMP should be brought in now. When you are talking about the potential abuse of public funds, about possible corruption involving hundreds of millions of dollars, then the public deserves to have the matter examined by authorities they can trust – who are removed from any influence of politics. It’s hard to disagree with that.
Ms. Smith has as solid a recollection of recent political history in Alberta as anyone. She would remember that her one-time nemesis, Progressive Conservative premier Alison Redford, was brought down over government flights her daughter took and plans she hatched to build a condominium near the legislature in Edmonton (dubbed the “sky palace”) to be used by the sitting premier of the day.
Over the years, it hasn’t taken much to get the public riled up and for politicians, including premiers, to be ushered out the door.
The allegations being made in this case make the Redford affair look almost quaint by comparison. They will hang like the sword of Damocles over the Smith government until the matter is fully investigated by trusted third parties.
?
Crickets! 
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