Alberta’s Prime Minister Daniel Smith said she would ask the Auditor General of the province to take a speedy review, who said this week that she was concerned about the possible disputes of contracts and interests within the province’s health authority. “Are reviewing.
“We need to identify any potential wrongdoing, correct it, and to go down the issue with proper attention,” Smith said in a statement Saturday morning.
On Thursday, Auditor General Doug Valley announced Smith’s first comment on the matter since announcing his investigation.
This came after it when he started a series in connection with a region from Ethna Mantzeloplas’ lawyer, which was recently terminated as AHS CEO. A spokesman for the Valley has said that the parties were informed about their investigation on January 31.
The CBC has failed to obtain a copy of the news letter. Mantzelpolos has not commented.
I have read various media stories that have been accused of the purchase of AHS and the deal. They are disturbing allegations and should be reviewed as soon as possible.
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The Globe reports that the letter contains claims and allegations of political interference that Mantzelpolos was wrongly dismissed, before they lost their jobs when they made Alberta’s purchase contracts and private surgery. Will meet Valley to discuss his investigation into the deal for facilities.
Valley has said that his investigation will be focused on AHS, but it can increase other than other organizations and the Ministry of Health. In particular, the investigation is currently focused on chartered surgical facilities, drugs (ibuprofen or acetaminophine) and Covid -19 personal protection equipment.
The government has been criticized at the early pandemic diseases of its PPE purchase, and a $ 70 million contract for buying children’s pain medicine from Turkish -based Etabe Pharmaceuticals, which is lacking in North America. It was done during.
He said that the Valley investigation will also review the effectiveness of the administration and control process – including governance and supervision.
The Alberta government abolished the entire AHS board at the end of January, and replaced a government administrator.
On Thursday, an AHS spokesman said the agency was reviewing its procedures and actions as it was related to the allegations of Mentzelpolos, and it was awarded new contracts in which it was investigated. The included parties have been added.
On Saturday, Smith said he had followed the news about the investigation and found the allegations disturbing.
He said he had already directed his officials to be completely transparent with the Valley.
He explained, “As a premiere, I was not involved in anything wrong.”
He said that Smith has also asked the AHS internal review to be completed as soon as possible, and his search has been handed over to him.
Opposition NDP leader Naheed Ninshi criticized Smith’s comments in his statement Saturday morning.
He demanded a thorough investigation of the RCMP and an independent judicial -led public inquiry, saying that the NDP wrote a letter to the RCMP, Valley and Alberta’s Ethics Commissioner to request an investigation.
