Alberta Auditor General granted intervenor role in ongoing AHS lawsuit

Alberta’s Auditor General has been granted permission to participate in the ongoing lawsuit against Alberta Health Services (AHS), a judge ruled Friday.

Doug Wylie applied as an intervenor on two appeals in the lawsuit filed by former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos, who alleges she was fired for looking into the procurement of AHS contracts.

Justice Jane Fagnan said in a court filing that Wylie’s unique role and perspective “will assist” the court with deliberations, adding the auditor general also has an interest in the outcome of the appeals and will be “directly and specially affected by the outcome.”

“To this end, the intervention must be limited to the two issues raised on the appeals and the Auditor General may not raise any new issues or adduce new evidence,” she said.

“Further, the intervention must not transform this Court into a political arena that will distract from the adjudication of the appeals. This, in my view addresses the concerns raised by His Majesty the King regarding scope of submissions.”

To intervene means to act as a non-party participant in a proceeding. The Supreme Court of Canada stated in 2021 that all intervener submissions must be useful to the court and different from evidence introduced by the parties. They are also not to support a party “but to advance the intervener’s own view of a legal issue before the Court.”

Intervenors also can’t challenge the findings of fact, take a position on the outcome of an appeal, and the court has discretion to take “any steps it sees fit to prevent an unfairness to the parties.”

Mentzelopoulos’ lawsuit, filed in February, says Sam Mraiche and his companies have signed more than $600 million in health contracts with the Alberta government. Mraiche and the premier attended an Oilers playoff game last year after securing a $70-million contract with the province to import pain medication.

MHCare Medical, which is tied to Mentzelopoulos’ allegations, said in a letter that Mraiche has been unfairly characterized as a government insider.

Mentzelopoulos’ suit also alleges that high-ranking health ministry staff, as well as Premier Danielle Smith’s former chief of staff, Marshall Smith–unrelated to the premier–pressured her to sign off on contracts for private surgical facilities despite concerns over high costs and who was benefiting. Her suit alleges she found potential conflicts of interest and was wrongfully fired for looking into questionable deals.

A recent report from the Globe and Mail is adding renewed calls for a public inquiry. According to the report, Smith used to live in a home owned by the sister of Mraiche. He is now suing Mentzelopoulos and the Globe for defamation.

The allegations have sparked an RCMP investigation, a government review led by a former Manitoba judge, and a probe into health-care procurement by Alberta’s auditor general.

The government and AHS have said Mentzelopoulos was fired because she was failing in her job and was working to stop mandated health reform.

Allegations from either side have yet to be tested in court.

With files from Sean Amato