Alberta government, auditor at odds over lawyer involvement in health sweetheart deal probe

The Alberta government and its auditor general are at odds over the province’s decision to bring its lawyers directly into the investigation surrounding multimillion-dollar health contracts.

The issue arose after the Opposition NDP revealed a leaked email from Alberta Health that directs public servants to contact lawyers if Auditor General Doug Wylie contacts them to ask questions about his investigation.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says funneling interview requests through a lawyer amounts to a gag order and runs counter to the government’s promise to be open and transparent.

Alberta Health says it’s a standard process and that the auditor general’s office OK’d it, but Wylie’s office says it was surprised by the move, that they didn’t endorse it and that it’s not standard practice.

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Multiple investigations have been launched, including one by the RCMP, since the former head of Alberta Health Services launched a lawsuit alleging she was wrongfully fired for looking into sweetheart deals, high-level political interference and corruption in health contracts.

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

Allegations from either side have yet to be tested in court.

— More to come…