Did anyone ever call the cops? What are the Mounties doing, if anything?
In Paragraph 60 of her statement of claim for her $1.7-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit, former Alberta Health Services Chief Executive Officer Athana Mentzelopoulos said the agency’s board advised her in mid-December that her internal investigation and external forensic audit of possible conflicts of interest in contract negotiations with private surgery companies should be expanded and that she “should consider bringing the matter to the attention of the RCMP.”
Ms. Mentzelopoulos was fired on Jan. 8 during a meeting with then Deputy Health Minister Andre Tremblay. On Jan. 31, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange dismissed the entire board.
As a result, Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s attempt to get to the bottom of what was going on with the contracts she says she was being pressured to sign with the operators of the so-called Chartered Surgical Facilities was sidelined.
But what happened to the board’s recommendation? Did Ms. Mentzelopoulos pick up the phone and call the cops? If she did, is the RCMP investigating?
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ms. LaGrange have tried to frame this still-developing story as being entirely about officials of Alberta Health Services refusing to co-operate with United Conservative Party policy efforts to reform health care. But this is not the case. The issue is whether government officials including some in the Premier’s Office pressured AHS in contract negotiations on behalf of private companies, as Ms. Mentzelopoulos alleges.
In the past two days, three major news stories about government contracts have been published one after the other, two by The Globe and Mail, one by The Tyee.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Globe’s Alanna Smith and Carrie Tait published a report looking back the United Conservative Party Government’s $70-million purchase of children’s pain medication in December 2022 – a decision that appears now to have been based entirely on Ms. Smith’s desire to make Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal federal government look bad.
According to the Globe, by December 2024, AHS was still having to press the Alberta-based supplier, MHCare Medical Corp., “to prove it was working to fulfill a contract to import millions of doses of pain medication from Turkey, accusing the company of doing very little work after being paid tens of millions of dollars.”
In Paragraph 43 of her statement of claim, Ms. Mentzelopoulos said she had “learned that AHS had purchased approximately $614 million in supplies and services from MHCare and other companies affiliated with Sam Mraiche …”
Early yesterday, independent investigative reporter Charles Rusnell writing in The Tyee reported that “Alberta land title documents show a numbered company owned by businessman Sam Mraiche purchased a commercial industrial property at 14425 124th Ave. NW in Edmonton for $1.7 million cash on May 27, 2024. That same numbered company sold the property to Alberta Infrastructure on Aug. 26, 2024, for $2 million cash.”
Mr. Rusnell’s story noted that Alberta Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie accepted luxury NHL playoff tickets from Mr. Mraiche in the spring of 2024, and reminded readers that Mr. Guthrie last week called for Ms. LaGrange to leave cabinet until an investigation of the political interference allegations at AHS is concluded.
In a follow to Mr. Rusnell’s report, Postmedia’s Edmonton Journal quoted a statement provided by the numbered company saying “this was a very traditional real estate transaction that did not involve any communication with senior levels of government to request or facilitate.”
Yesterday afternoon, Ms. Tait and Ms. Smith published another story in the Globe under the headline, “Alberta surgical companies with contracts under scrutiny linked to firm that imported children’s pain meds.”
“Two private surgical facilities that were negotiating contracts with Alberta’s health authority are part-owned by an Edmonton businessman whose company imported children’s pain medication for the province and who hosted politicians at NHL playoff games, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail,” the latest Globe report begins.
The reporters also published an AHS internal price comparison for surgical facilities “that shows the proposed projects in Red Deer and Lethbridge were negotiating rates far higher than what a competitor in Calgary is paid. Further, the fees on the table surpassed what it costs AHS to perform the same surgeries, according to the internal document.”
In response, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta called yesterday for an immediate end to the so-called Alberta Surgical Initiative and “a return to full public ownership of private surgical facilities to prevent further profiteering off essential health care services following explosive revelations that private surgical facilities contracted by the province were charging more than double the cost of equivalent procedures performed in the public system.”
“AHS pays $4,833 for a shoulder replacement, while private facilities under ASI were negotiating rates as high as $11,243,” the union representing paramedics and other health care professionals said, citing the Globe report. “Similar overcharges exist for hip and knee replacements, with private providers consistently charging over twice what it costs AHS to perform the same procedures.”
“This is an outright betrayal of Albertans,” HSAA President Mike Parker said in a forceful news release. “The UCP tells Albertans for-profit health care would save money and cut wait times through innovation, but instead, we have an out-of-control system where taxpayer dollars are being funneled into private pockets at double the cost. This is not innovation – this is profiteering at its worst.”
Meanwhile, the NDP sems to have stuck to its call for a full public inquiry following Mr. Guthrie’s acknowledgement in Mr. Rusnell’s report that the real estate sale has now been referred to the auditor-general for review.
“This admission from Minister Guthrie blows the Premier’s talking points out of the water,” said Christina Gray, who is the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Alberta Legislature until party leader Naheed Nenshi is elected to a seat. “We are not dealing with just an AHS issue; the concerns raised are government-wide.”
That’s fair. But Ms. Gray’s view that “at this point it is clear that the only way Albertans will get the truth is from a judge-led public inquiry,” may only be as clear as mud.
A public inquiry would take months to set up and provide the government with an opportunity to refuse to comment on the burgeoning scandal while frenetically working to create distractions.
Perhaps the real question the NDP should be asking is if it’s time for Premier Smith to resign? Her office is at the heart of this mess, and the crisis is not going to go away as long as she remains.
Was the reason for the purchase of all that Turkish pain medication really only to make Trudeau look bad, or also give someone well connected politically yet another opportunity to profit at Albertans expense?
The initially smouldering scandal is turning into a blaze, threatening to now engulf three government departments. Mr. Guthrie’s response seems the most sensible. LaGrange may be in too deep to save herself and Mr. Williams is probably bracing for impact.
Needles in haystacks can be hard to find and can stay buried if no one knows about them, but are easier to find once people start to know where and what to look for.
This scandal seems to be metastasizing with at least one private companies tentacles extending into more areas of the government than initially realized. So it may be getting to late for the government to get ahead of it. Perhaps the Premier needs to be bracing for impact now too.
Naheed Nenshi does believe that Danielle Smith should resign. This entire saga gets uglier by the day. The R.C.M.P should investigate this, because it is that serious. There also has to be a completely independent investigation here. If Danielle Smith makes it look like the UCP are investigating themselves, that isn’t good. For Nate Pike to be silenced for saying what was reported by The Globe and Mail is very concerning, and very revealing. No doubt, Danielle Smith was behind the silencing of Nate Pike too.
Anonymous: While I think the silencing of Mr. Pike is a serious matter, I am not certain that what was said in his broadcast is exactly the same as what The Globe and Mail reported. I have not watched the full Pike vlog – I find them rambling and hard to follow – and I have not read the plaintiff’s statement of claim. I was astounded, though, that the judge appeared to ask him to remove material that had not been complained of. To quote William Blackstone, in his Commentaries: “The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every freeman has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press; but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous or illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity.” (Emphasis added.) Prior restraint is not explicitly prohibited in Canada’s Constitution as it is in the United States, but the principle is certainly recognized. So that ruling, if it has been described accurately in media, needs to be challenged. And the damages sought seem to be out of line with past Canadian judgments. A quick glance indicates the average total damages in defamation cases between 2003 and 2013 was $62,735. (The Canadian Defamation Action: An Empirical Study, 2017 CanLIIDocs 236) Inflation has likely raised that average somewhat since 2013, but presumably not into multi-millions of dollars. But this is not to say the plaintiff’s case is completely without merit. Future events will reveal a lot. DJC
Alberta Views has a very readable version of the vlog.
Hey, it only took the RCMP 6-7 Y E A R S to investigate the UCP 2017 leadership vote. Alberta will be the 51st state before that.
Typo alert David – “NDP playoff tickets” are probably not a thing. Much gratitude for your good work.
Thank you, Jonathan. I did catch that and fix it when I arose this morning. Some of us would pay for NDP playoff tickets, but, I grant you, probably not as many as want to watch the Oilers play. DJC
Watched the oilers play the Capitals… it was ugly.
Luxury NDP playoff tickets?
Archie: I spotted that first thing an fixed it circa 8 a.m., then headed off to an all day meeting. As I said to someone on social media, though, if I were a sports reporter I might have written “NHL Leader Naheed Nenshi” in similar circumstances. Tha nks fir theads up, though, even if I didn’t get to it till this evening. DJC
A full-blown RCMP investigation is needed. It too will take time to be conducted properly, but has the power to actually lay charges against people not just recommend them to a UCP justice minister who is part of the problem. After their ouster in 1991, the PC government of Grant Devine in Saskatchewan was investigated by the RCMP over an immense expense fraud scandal (1/1000 of the amount involved in CareGate!) which resulted in many of his former Cabinet Ministers being convicted of fraud. An RCMP investigation could do the same here.
I don’t have as much confidence in the RCMP as you do, if the outcome of their alleged investigation into the 2017 UCP leadership “kamikaze campaign” affair is any indication. The Alberta RCMP reports to the provincial government under the terms of the contract policing model, and I have no confidence they can remain arms’-length or independent in how they investigate potential political malfeasance.
Now if they brought in their Sensitive and International Investigations team from their federal policing branch, I’d be more confident of the integrity of the investigation.
https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/on/prog-serv/index-eng.htm
Alberta “conservatives” don’t seem capable of learning.
Well put. As Talleyrand said of Europe’s Bourbon royalty: “The Bourbons learned nothing and forgot nothing.” Alberta’s UCP is much the same.
Yeah! Let’s replace her with Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, a woman who knows her place! Then bring back Doug Main! Gary Mar! Robin Campbell! When non-renewable resources had their rightful place in the textbooks of the children. And Indigenous women-folk wore lipstick not red handprints. How’re those coal contracts coming along? Or are they just another distraction from the distraction?
While the allegations from Ms. Mentzelopoulos have not been proven in court, I find it hard to believe that her complaints are frivolous. Throwing mud at an administration without proof and backup seems unlikely to me.
Rather than being their own little world and steaming ahead without regard, perhaps the UCP should pay attention what’s happened in B.C.? B.C. did try cutting corporate taxes with the idea of job creation and no jobs were created just like here. The cut cost the Government billions in lost tax dollars so they scrapped that idea. Next B.C. tried private surgeries, just to find out that were seriously more expensive and scrapped that idea as well.
Now that more and more irregularities are slipping out, it will be interesting to see how Smith tries to wiggle her way around this one.
@djc
I have seen scattered 3rd party reporting that the RCMP is “looking at” the situation, so your question is very germane.
As more reporting occurs, the stench of possible criminal fiduciary actions is getting more noisome.
At what point do free playoff tickets – which are far from cheap – cross the line into conflict of interest or even into bribery?
And when you think about it, taking a legally questionable hockey game ticket is such a small gain against such a huge potential consequence.
Perhaps it’s another example of the clown parties incompetence; they can’t even commit grift properly!
If the RCMP were called, does any thinking Albertan believe they will get to the bottom of anything? Especially after the top notch investigation the RCMP did on the Kenney campaign financing scandal. How will former Edmonton Police Chief McFee factor into this with his police contacts when he starts work for Smith on Monday?
Good question, about calling the RCMP. I would have thought especially if Mentzelopolous was concerned enough about her personal safety that Protective Services did an assessment. They must have a record of that. I wonder who the AHS board member(s) was/were who she said warned her to be careful? She had a forensic audit started before she left, too. What’s happened to that? There are so many questions, the public and the press shouldn’t be satisfied with Smith’s deflections and cooked-up stories.
It’s no wonder the premier looked like a deer in the headlights at one point during that aforementioned press conference. The entire government seems to be unravelling. The “saints and sinners” costumes were an interesting choice.
I was looking at the modified nun outfit the beleaguered looking Smith was wearing in the picture and wondered what was going on – I think you nailed it perfectly!
If we are counting on the average Albertan to understand what is happening such as the funnelling of public funds, like $70 million, into the hands of the private health care industry and UCP supporters like medical supplier MHCare, we will be sorry. And if Smith and the UCP get their way with a provincial police force in Alberta, under the control of the cabinet, of course, the corruption will run wild. And her base of medieval peasants will be cheering on the sidelines “she’s fight’n fer alber’ns!”
Marlain-a-Lago will never resign. She takes her cues from the Mango Mussolini, a convicted felon who thinks ethics are for losers.
Have the RCMP been called in? I certainly hope so even if I don’t hold much confidence in their investigative competence. Kenney skated after years of RCMP dithering and I fear her royal highness Queen Stormy Danielle would too.
Also, as you noted, it would be bad enough that she wasted $70,000,000 of taxpayer dollars to make Trudeau look bad, but to make it even more appalling, we were ripped off with medicine that was unsafe to use. What an absolute waste of money that could have been used to do some real good for our publicly funded health care system.
With every new story from the Globe (and Nate Pike’s courageous reporting), it becomes more and more obvious that the UCP’s only use for publicly funded health care is to divert those dollars into their own pockets as quickly as possible.
In an ideal world, those at the top would serve time in prison for these sorts of things, but in Alberta they will probably end up with cushy positions on the boards of their cronies.
Dog E!? Don’t do that on the carpet!? How many times!?!! Yah this is not your pet Shitzui! We are real. The meltdown south of the medicine line is serious! Time for actual action!
Call for an inquiry? Sure, sure…there’ll be one.
Oh, Preston?
I just realized that she also told us during that press conference who will build our new schools, who will be running them and at what price to the taxpayer. “Prices change… if you asked us what we’re able to build a school for three years ago… vs now, it’s also very different. Prices change and we have to be able to respond to that.”
Smith and LaGrange should both resign. I hear France is looking for some “qualified” figure skating judges for the next Olympics
With allowing the coal to open up, the elimination of the trapping limits, the damage to Alberta’s education and the AHS crisis. Ms. S***, and her government, needs to take their balls and go home.
Remember when the NDP won and the UPC spent hours shredding documents. This government has been rotting for too long now.
Jones: Do you mean the PCs? DJC
David the NDP, beat the PC’s, you are absolutely right. Can you please explain the difference between the PC and the UPC. Seems to be the same group of players, minus Jim Prentice (RIP) and couple others.
Jones: I’d need a week to do this topic justice. The PCs, especially in Alberta, were a big-tent coalition that included everything from red Tories that in any other province would have been members of the old-time federal NDP to the business class to small farmers and ranchers to hard-right ideologues and nutty libertarians. After the 2015 election of the NDP, with a majority no less, frightened Conservatives led by Jason Kenney tried to rebuild the successful coalition of old. Instead they got a reverse hostile takeover by the Wildrose and even more radical far-right elements. They, in turn, drove out the Reddest Tories, and then many of the “moderates.” Your observation is right that a few of UCP MLAs date to the more moderate PC coalition, but their control of the party is limited and growing weaker. About all that is left in rank and file is the extreme right. DJC
I read Mr. Rusnell’s story in the Tyee. Now, flipping industrial properties isn’t much different from flipping houses. But still, a 17.6% increase from the purchase price seems like a lot—unless there’s been a boom in the industrial real-estate market lately. So…has there? I confess I didn’t care until I heard about this deal.
And is it a mere coincidence that the purchase and sale were exactly 91 days apart? Could it be there’s a provincial tax on real-estate deals that happen 90 days or less after a purchase? Hmm….
Now, that numbered company has said there was nothing unusual about the purchase or sale of that chunk of land. OK. Great. But given the sheer number of numbered (and named) companies, is anyone surprised that people are starting to ask, “What’s going on?”
On another front, Nate Pike’s GoFundMe for legal defence has more than doubled his goal—donations now stand at $193,800 and counting. Good luck to Nate, and good work to all who’ve contributed. Nate will need the extra for the inevitable round two.
I’ve been waiting for Nate to go on the offensive. The G&M article pretty much makes his case. He’s been right all along.
It struck me as incredibly noteworthy both transactions were conducted in cash. That’s an unusual way to purchase commercial (even residential) real estate.
Oh…my…Gawd. Has lightning struck? Lorne Gunter (!!!) has opined that we need “a transparent, independent investigation” to learn what’s really happening in this mess. He’s actually disturbed by the sequence of events, to wit: Athana Mentzelopoulos is fired two days before meeting the Auditor General; and the entire Board of Directors (hand-picked by Smith’s government, were they not?) fired for urging Ms. M. to do her job. That being to investigate suspicious contracts to a for-profit surgical clinic.
Of course, ol’ Lorne can’t resist taking multiple cheap shots at AHS staff and administratiors. They’re “True Believers” who “resist all efforts to privatize health delivery even if the government continues to pay for every patient’s care.” He’s also certain, as always, that the “public health monopoly” can’t or won’t shorten wait times, and that only private surgeries will save us.
He seems oblivious to the thought that the “True Believers” truly believe they can do better because:
1) they’ve lived through so many bouts of institutional paralysis and crippling cuts under the Tories, both Old and UCP;
2) internal AHS documents quoted in the Globe & Mail show private clinics are far more expensive than the public system (even when hospitals are privately owned, they don’t ALL operate on a for-profit basis).
3) Having lived with the inexpressible relief of not being badgered and bullied for four years under Rachel Notley’s NDP, hospital staff must be seething with resentment—if not anger—over yet another Con government screwing them over and blaming their victims (that’s the UCP+TBA Cons victimizing hospital employees, in case you UCP trolls are uncertain).
Lorne Gunter, like so many other MAGA-wannabes, is convinced businesses can do no wrong and governments can do no right. Gunter’s correct in the case of Danielle Smith, but not the way he thinks.
Here’s a link, in case you’d like to review Gunter’s arguments:
https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/lorne-gunter-ahs-investigation-needs-to-independent-transparent
There was a time, long ago, that the EJ would have been ashamed of themselves to have Lone Grunter printed on their pages. The Sun was more than happy to give him a home to spew his tripe. Well that was then and this is now. Either way, he’s a twit and shill of the highest calibre and I doubt he will ever write an article that could be appreciated by someone with more than half a brain.
The NDP had better hammer Danielle Smith hard over this scandal. It’d be nice if Naheed Nenshi and Christina Gray held a press conference, demanding Smith fire Adriana LaGrange before resigning herself, for interfering with the contract process at AHS.
Picture it:
(Christina Gray:) “Athana Mentzelopoulos was trying to do her job—making sure Albertans get their money’s worth from private surgery clinics—when LaGrange fired her. Then LaGrange fired the ENTIRE BOARD—the entire HAND-PICKED, UCP-BACKED board—and Smith did NOTHING. Danielle Smith, answer me this: how could you NOT know this? How could you NOT have heard ANYTHING for eight months?”
(Naheed Nenshi:) “Hey Danielle, we know you changed the rules. We know you gave yourself the power to approve EVERY decision at AHS. We know your new rules even let you overrule your own Minister of Health, Adriana LaGrange. So, Danielle—WHY DIDN’T YOU OVERRULE LAGRANGE? How could you NOT know what was happening? No, Danielle, ‘I didn’t hear about it’ isn’t an excuse. You’re the Premier of Alberta. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for the actions of your government. Fire LaGrange right NOW—or admit LaGrange did what you TOLD HER TO DO!”
Oh, if only…. Such an event might force even the PostMedia rags to take notice. Of course, Smith, LaGrange and their cheerleaders in chief (Gunter, Braid, Staples, or add your own candidates here) would detonate about 10 megatonnes each. Let ‘em. The more noise they make, the dumber and more desperate they’ll look.
DJC pointed it out earlier. An “investigation” takes a lot of time. The way Dancing Dani can spin the BS, and her followers lap it up the less chance there is of justice being served. The NDP has a golden opportunity to dump both LaGrange and Smith. A solid well funded online/off line campaign: RESIGN SMITH! Naheed has to stop being a ‘nice’ guy.
W. Shakespeare’s applicable quote in regards to Postmedia opinion columnists: “It is a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Mike J Danysh: I think this is going to be more revealing as time goes on. These UCP cheerleader columnists at Postmedia won’t be able to brush this off indefinitely.
Smith must resign. Full. Stop.
In a burst of Trumpian genius, Queen Danielle decides to abolish the entire judiary and declare herself a real queen. There you have it, Smith’s way out in a nutshell.
As her defend, she could use that viral video of a Republican representative responding to a question about Trump’s excessive and majestic overreach of executive powers. The representative’s response could be best summed up as Biden did the same thing; and Trump really is the king, so get used to it.
Smith would have to be be really bold to make that claim, but I would put it past her.
It is a bit of a mess. Wasting taxpayer money, ah its not their personal funds. They got to sit in the sky boxes seats and didn’t have to pay much, just their integrity. O.K.
Ms. Smith is most likely simply stay in her position and try to wait out all of it. If she doesn’t resign and there is no investigation it will be just business as usual. At this point she might not have anything to loose by simply doing nothing. The RCMP isn’t going to investigate anything until forced to. Don’t know when their contract with the province is up, but it would be interesting to find out. In B.C. the B.C. Lieberals signed a 20 yr deal with them. it was interesting and entertaining. The RCMP didn’t want to have to deal with having an extra several thousand RCMP officers leaving B.C. and –the government of the day, B.C. Lieberals, now B.C. United, had a few problems–the usual stuff, money laundering via the Casinos, money laundering through real estate, unofficial bank in office building, finding out a hockey bag can hold $750K in twenties.
If Albertans don’t press for some changes this will not get better on its own. Before its real ugly, time to have an election.
I first heard of Sam Mraiche when I read the transcript of Nate Pike’s blog on AB Resistance. The transcript has since been removed, which I suspect may have something to do with Anonymous’ mentioning that Nate Pike had been silenced.
A question that has bothered me ever since I read the transcript has been who is Sam Mraiche, and why has he become the alleged recipient of so much of the UCP’s blessings?
I suppose it would be true to form for Fraulein Schmidt to double down and gamble on a lawsuit in the hopes that Mentzelopoulos will ultimately be punished and humiliated for daring to stand up against The Machine. That said I find it far more likely that a settlement offer gets bumped up WELL past asking price and Mentzelopoulos is never heard from again. Small price to pay for the UCP and besides, it’s only taxpayer money, right? With the Mentzelopoulos “problem” gone and the election delayed til the last half of 2027 methinks there is plenty of time for this scandal to be forgotten by the rubes of Alberta. I hope I’m wrong but as DJC is fond of saying, TIA.
“Similar overcharges exist for hip and knee replacements, with private providers consistently charging over twice what it costs AHS to perform the same procedures. . . . This is not innovation – this is profiteering at its worst.”
Those statements, as evidence, are very important in the overall scheme of things; where, the ideological partisan based faith (which includes all of the biases that are the implicit values and assumptions that are embedded within the particular cherished belief system) in the religion of market based solutions for every problem that arises has been definitively falsified, once again, using real world data and facts.
Whether or not such revelations affects the faith based doctrinal system of the true believers remains to be seen. Unfortunately, there are strong psychological biases and monetary rewards acting upon individuals as behavioral reinforcements suggesting that the status quo of market fundamentalism will remain as the dominant belief system, moving forward. See also,
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/private-health-care-taxpayer-money-1.6777470
“Hospitals did nearly 139,000 joint replacements in 2019-2020, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Its research puts the average cost per operation at $12,223, which means the private clinics are charging patients roughly double what the surgery costs provincial medicare systems.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/private-surgery-hip-knee-replacement-1.6741461
Hard to believe that in 2025 people still believe that private is better and cheaper and that government cannot do anything right. This neo-liberal propaganda that has cost all of us the disappearance of the commons as well as costing us more.
Terrible and exploitative and dishonest
I just spent 9 hours in the Grey Nuns emergency room. My wife had another cardiac event. She is going to be OK, short term – but needs heart surgery. My rage level is at stellar fusion level now.
I am NOT angry at the frontline medical staff – they are heroes, full stop, and I told them so. Her cardiologist is going to get an earful though.
So what I going to do about it?
1) I already vote NDP.
2) I have an ABNDP membership.
3) I have convinced my mid 80’s year old parents to vote NDP (they live in a northwest rural riding).
4) I am going talk with all of my friends, especially those who live outside of Edmonton, and do my very damn best to convince them to vote NDP, or least not for the clowns.