EDMONTON — This past Friday, the Deputy Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration released a statement informing Albertans that the interim report of Judge Wyant’s third-party investigation into Alberta’s health care procurement and contracting processes has been delayed until September 24, and that we will not see the final report until October. The interim report was previously due on May 30, with the final report to be delivered on June 30.
“The Premier, the justice minister, and other cabinet ministers have tried to convince Albertans to trust their process and promised that we would see more information soon. But once the deadline hit, they sent a Deputy Minister to inform Albertans that there would be major delays before we will learn anything more,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “This utter lack of respect for Albertans is completely unacceptable. It is clear the government is not serious about transparency or accountability. We deserve answers for how our public health care dollars have been spent.”
This delay occurs at the same time that the Auditor General is raising concerns about how the government’s approach to the lawsuit with the former Alberta Health Services CEO could be contrary to the public interest and may undermine the integrity of his investigation.
“Enough with the political games, the government needs to stop dragging their heels and trying to sweep things under the rug. We need a public inquiry, full stop,” said Gallaway. “A fully independent public inquiry with a wide mandate to look into the entirety of this government’s health care procurements is the only way Albertans can be assured we will get real answers on the ongoing allegations of corruption. The Premier needs to show Albertans her government is serious about transparency and accountability in our health care system or how our public health care dollars are used."
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