EDMONTON — Yesterday, the Globe and Mail reported that the RCMP are investigating fraud, breach of trust and money laundering in connection with Alberta’s health care procurement. In response to this concerning news, Premier Danielle Smith continued to reject calls for a public inquiry.
“It’s frustrating and telling that our Premier and government continue to show their lack of commitment to transparency and accountability when it comes to surgical and other health care procurement,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “We are talking about hundreds of millions of our public health care dollars. A fulsome public inquiry is the only way to ensure that Albertans know how our money has been spent, who was responsible for those decisions, and why. We deserve to know that if any wrongdoing has in fact occurred, the appropriate people are held accountable.”
Friends of Medicare has repeatedly called for a public inquiry, including last winter when the government announced they were cancelling some surgical contracts due to concerns they had with the contracting process. Concerns about the Alberta government’s aggressive expansion of Recovery Centres have also been reported by the Globe and Mail.
“Albertans deserve public health care that prioritizes patient care needs, not private profits. If the government believes there was interference or other issues with the procurement of these contracts, what were they? Who is responsible, and why aren’t they being held accountable?” said Gallaway. “This is why Albertans deserve a fully-empowered public inquiry with a wide mandate to look into the entirety of this government’s health care procurement processes and decisions. This is the only way Albertans can be assured we will get complete answers on these incredibly serious ongoing allegations of corruption.”
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