Interim report on Alberta health contract scandal not finished, won’t be made public

An Alberta Health Services sign is pictured outside the Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary, Thursday, March 20, 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

EDMONTON — Alberta’s government says it has yet to receive an interim report on the investigation into allegations of corruption over health contracts, but that it should be finished in the coming days.

Former Manitoba provincial court chief judge Raymond Wyant had until Wednesday to submit it, but he still has interviews to finish, said a government spokesperson.

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Enyinnah Okere, a deputy minister of communications, also said in an email the interim report won’t be made public, citing no requirement to do so in the terms of the investigation set by the government.

Wyant, appointed by the government in March to dig into the allegations, was initially expected to deliver his interim report in May. The province extended the deadline because of the number of documents involved and interviews Wyant wanted to do.

The extension moved the deadline for his final report to Oct. 15. The investigation’s terms of reference say that report is to be made public.

Okere didn’t say if Wyant would be given extra time to submit his final report.

“Given that this matter is still currently under investigation, no further comment can be provided at this time.”

The allegations stem from a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed earlier this year by the former head of Alberta Health Services.

Athana Mentzelopoulos claims individuals high in government interfered in overpriced health deals for private surgical companies and medical suppliers while she was in the role.

The allegations have not been tested in court.

Premier Danielle Smith’s government has denied any wrongdoing. It claims Mentzelopoulos was fired for poor job performance and for stalling Alberta’s plan to address wait times by shifting more publicly funded surgeries to private providers.

The lawsuit, which is working its way through the courts, has sparked a number of separate investigations, including probes by the RCMP and Alberta’s auditor general.

Opposition NDP house leader Christina Gray said Wednesday it was “sadly not surprising” the interim report was delayed again.

“This (United Conservative Party) government cannot be trusted to investigate itself, and the repeated delays just reinforce how ridiculous this pretend inquiry is,” Gray said.

“These endlessly sliding deadlines for Justice Wyant’s report are yet another reason Alberta needs a real public inquiry into these matters.”

Gray also criticized the government’s choice not to make the interim report public, despite Justice Minister Mickey Amery pledging to do so earlier this year.

Chris Gallaway, executive director with the public health-care advocacy group Friends of Medicare, said regardless of Wyant’s findings, a public inquiry should take place.

“At this point, anything less is unacceptable,” Gallaway said in a statement.

The premier said she still expects Wyant’s final report next month.

“As soon as it is out, then I’ll be able to comment on it,” she told reporters in Edmonton.

Smith also said she wouldn’t comment on a story by the Globe and Mail with more details on the scandal.

The story cites a report from an internal investigation that Mentzelopoulos hired a law firm to undertake last year. It says a former procurement employee for AHS, who returned in an advisory role, was also working for a private surgical provider looking for a government contract.

Smith said the report obtained by the Globe was confidential.

“I’m not going to comment on the copy of a report that I shouldn’t have seen in the first place, nor should the general public, because it shouldn’t have been leaked,” she said.

Leaked documents have been a point of contention between the province and Mentzelopoulos in court, with government lawyers alleging she kept documents to which she wasn’t legally entitled after she was fired.

In April, a judge ruled the province could interview Mentzelopoulos about documents she allegedly kept and shared without permission, including with media.

The lawyer for Mentzelopoulos had no comment Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2025.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press