RCMP investigating complaint against AHS amid corruption allegations

A criminal investigation is now underway into allegations of improper procurement at Alberta Health Services.

RCMP confirmed it has launched an investigation into a complaint relating to Alberta Health Services (AHS).

“On Feb. 6, 2025, the RCMP received a complaint relating to Alberta Health Services. Following a review, the RCMP has begun an investigation into the matter,” RCMP said in a statement Thursday.

“As this is an ongoing investigation, no further details are available at this time.”

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Last month, RCMP said it was reviewing a complaint about AHS after allegations of corruption surrounding the health authority’s procurement practices came to light.

Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former head of AHS, filed a $1.7 million lawsuit alleging the health agency rewarded friends of the Smith government and attacked critics.

It names the premier’s former chief of staff Marshall Smith and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange multiple times.

LaGrange has maintained that she was not involved in the procurement decisions and the allegations made against her are false.

None of the claims have been proven in court.

“The (Government of Alberta) is unaware of the identity of any party under RCMP investigation but will provide the required cooperation to the RCMP should the government be requested to do so,” a spokesperson with the office of the Minister of Health said in an emailed statement.

“We refer any further inquiries regarding this matter to the RCMP, as it would be entirely inappropriate for the government to comment on an ongoing police investigation.”

The lawsuit claims Mentzelopoulos was pressured “to terminate purported critics of the government” and that “private detectives, lawyers, and (apparently) hackers were being used to discover the identity of the person(s) posting” critically online about the government.

Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Mentzelopoulos alleges the province handed out inflated contracts for private clinic surgeries.

She claims taxpayer funds paid for purposely overpriced contracts with friends of the UCP government.

Lawyers for Mentzelopoulos provided CTV News with a statement:

“Athana Mentzelopoulos welcomes news of the RCMP investigation,” the statement read.

“She will of course co-operate with that investigation as well as the ongoing auditor general’s investigation.

“In response to questions about whether she has been interviewed by the RCMP, she cannot comment at this time.”

Further investigations

Alberta’s auditor general is also looking into the contracting and procurement practices at the health authority and ministry.

The province has also hired the former head of Manitoba’s provincial court to investigate the allegations as a third party.

He is to review multimillion-dollar Alberta Health Services contracts for children’s medication and for surgeries done by for-profit providers.

Doug King, a justice studies professor at Mount Royal University, explained that police may launch a review to assess information to see if it could be a criminal event. Then, if they believe allegations could lead to a criminal charge, they may launch an investigation.

“So, we’re really far away from any criminal charges. Most investigations by the police on criminal matters never end up in a charge,” King said.

He said the investigation would likely include interviews and reviewing more documents.

“But if it turns into something like a search warrant, that’s another level up. That’s where you can only get a search warrant in Canadian law if you have reasonable grounds to believe that the search warrant will produce evidence of an already existing crime,” he said.

In a statement Thursday, Naheed Nenshi, the leader of the Alberta NDP, said the opposition is happy the RCMP is investigating.

“These allegations of bloated contracts are incredibly serious, and we’re glad to see them being treated as such,” Nenshi said in a statement.