Premier Danielle Smith will join her mental health and addiction minister to announce her government's plan to build new addiction facilities. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

By Eli J. Ridder

PROVINCIAL POLITICS

Premier Smith to reveal new addiction facility plans amid AHS scandal

Feb 24, 2025 | 11:00 AM

Premier Danielle Smith will reveal new health care plans this morning while she remains under pressure from critics and political opposition amid allegations of corruption against her government’s handling of Alberta Health Services.

Smith, who also serves as MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat, has denied any wrongdoing in response to allegations of Alberta government interference in lucrative medical contracts.

In a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed last week, former AHS head Athana Mentzelopoulos alleges the premier’s then-chief of staff, Marshall Smith, repeatedly put pressure on her to sign deals with the Alberta Surgical Group, despite concerns about costs and who was benefiting.

Over 30 protestors rallied in front of Smith’s constituency office in Medicine Hat on Saturday calling on her to quit. It was planned to take place simultaneously with other “pink slip” protests across the province.

The Opposition NDP has called for the United Conservative Party government to order a judicial public inquiry to get to the bottom of the scandal.

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So, too, has Medicine Hat physician and former Alberta Medical Association head Dr. Paul Parks.

He told CHAT News last Friday it was important to “get out the real data, the real stats, the real numbers.”

“Let’s get out and look what happened, did government try to intervene? Did government try to have people fired?”

Without a public inquiry backed by the judicial branch, “we won’t be able to restore trust in our system,” he added.

The premier said last week she and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange weren’t involved in awarding the contracts at the centre of the allegations.

Smith instead accused AHS leadership of stymieing the government’s mission to expand publicly funded, private surgical delivery.

Smith said AHS would rather keep all surgeries in its hospitals, “either because of ideology, or to protect their interests.”

She also said the decision to strip AHS of its responsibility to negotiate surgical contracts was to prevent the agency from being in a conflict of interest by drafting contracts for competitors.

Smith has so far backed LaGrange, even after a memo from her infrastructure minister called for the health minister to be moved to another job while the scandal is under investigation.

Lawyer Dan Scott, who represents Mentzelopoulos, rejected the implication that she opposed private surgical facilities and expanding role the facilities are to play in the health system.

He said concerns the ex-AHS chief raised last year were about making sure there was proper due diligence before finalizing the contracts.

New facilities

Smith will join her mental health and addiction minister Dan Williams to announce her government’s plan to build new addiction facilities.

Last year, the provincial government’s health care revamp kicked off with the launch of its new mental health and addictions agency, known as Recovery Alberta.

The initial goals for Recovery Alberta was to have more than 10,000 staff members who will operate and manage contracts for 1,650 psychiatric beds; 1,350 addiction detox and treatment beds; and health services for more than 4,800 people in provincial correctional facilities.

Having a declared agency focused on addictions and mental health will allow for strategic planning and resource allocation to better meet the Albertans for a type of care that has typically been an afterthought in the broader system, officials say.

The 2024 budget allocated more than $1.13 billion to mental health and addiction services in Alberta.

Protestors called for Premier Danielle Smith to resign outside her constituency office on Thursday. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

The news conference announcing the Alberta government’s plan is taking place at 11:30 a.m.

It will kick off a busy week for Smith lead up to when her ruling United Conservatives introduce the 2025 provincial budget in the legislature on Thursday.

— With files from Jayk Sterkenberg and The Canadian Press