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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks to media in Calgary, on Oct. 21.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Tuesday rejected renewed demands for a public inquiry into allegations of procurement irregularities in the province’s heath care system after The Globe and Mail reported the RCMP are investigating potential fraud, breach of trust, and money laundering in connection with the controversy.
Ms. Smith, speaking in the legislature during its first sitting since May, said last year’s review conducted by Raymond Wyant, a retired judge from Manitoba, adequately probed the allegations, which were lodged by Alberta Health Services’ former chief executive in February, 2025.
The Premier has, for over a year, leaned on Mr. Wyant’s report when defending her government against allegations of wrongdoing tied to the procurement affair. The report was released in October, 2025.
“The best way to clear the air was to have a judge-led inquiry, which is what we did,” Ms. Smith told the legislature during Question Period on Tuesday. “We gave him literally millions of pages of documents.”
Mr. Wyant did not have the power to subpoena witnesses or hear testimony under oath. Some people declined to be interviewed or to answer certain questions. And he could not compel the production of records.
RCMP probe potential fraud, money laundering in Alberta health care procurement controversy
Naheed Nenshi, the New Democratic Party Leader, argued the new information reported in The Globe adds to the need for a public inquiry.
“The net is tightening around this government and her government,” he said. “The only way to clear the air is a public inquiry.”
The RCMP acknowledged in early 2025 that they were investigating the province’s health care procurement practices. The Globe’s report on Tuesday, based on a letter filed in court, revealed for the first time the potential crimes police are pursuing.
Tom Andreopoulos, a Crown prosecutor with the Complex Prosecutions Bureau at Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney-General, sent the letter to lawyers sparring in an Alberta civil dispute involving Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former chief executive at Alberta Health Services.
“Our office is responsible for the provision of advisory support and the prosecution of any charges that may arise from the ongoing Royal Canadian Mounted Police criminal investigation into fraud, breach of trust, and money laundering arising out of procurement processes and practices at Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services,” Mr. Andreopoulos says in his letter.
The Alberta health care procurement controversy, explained
The letter does not elaborate on the alleged potential offences or who is the subject of the investigation, and does not specify why Ontario Crown prosecutors are involved in the RCMP’s probe in Alberta. (Provincial justice departments sometimes appoint prosecutors from other provinces when dealing with politically sensitive cases in which a potential conflict of interest may arise.)
In September, Justice Michael Lema determined that Ms. Mentzelopoulos had retained documents that were privileged or confidential after the government fired her. He ruled she must return or destroy those records, and pay legal costs for the government and the health agency.
One of Ms. Mentzelopoulos’ lawyers submitted Mr. Andreopoulos’s letter as part of a court filing disputing the costs requested by the government and Alberta Health Services.
Ms. Mentzelopoulos sued the provincial government and health agency in February, 2025, for wrongful dismissal. She alleges in court documents the government fired her, in part, to shut down an investigation she ordered into procurement irregularities and potential conflicts of interest in the health care system. The government, meanwhile, alleges it fired Ms. Mentzelopoulos because she failed at executing the government’s strategy.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Ms. Smith’s government appointed Mr. Wyant to examine Ms. Mentzelopoulos’ allegations. He determined Alberta Health Services did not follow its own procedure when it signed a $70-million deal for children’s medication with MHCare Medical Corp. in 2022 and that the government health ministry failed to follow its own rules regarding a private Edmonton surgical centre.
He stressed his investigation and conclusions did not amount to clearing the government of wrongdoing.
“When I find that there was no wrongful interference by any government official in the matters concerning this report, that only means that I found no evidence of such, but I am not in a position to make a final and absolute determination,” Mr. Wyant stated.