Misleading leaked information about key witness in dodgy health care contracts probe smacks of political interference

If the already constrained investigation by a retired Manitoba judge into allegations of dodgy health care contracts pushed by influential figures in the Alberta Government is now beset by leaks from well-placed insiders in an apparent effort to discredit a key witness, that’s just one more reason why a real judicial inquiry by a sitting judge with the power to compel testimony is required to clear the air.

Raymond Wyant, the respected former chief judge of the Manitoba Provincial Court, must have been wondering what the hell he’d gotten himself mixed up in after the former CEO of Alberta Health Services on Friday revealed evidence suggesting there’s been political interference in his inquiries. 

Athana Mentzelopoulos, whose incendiary allegations in Globe and Mail stories and her wrongful dismissal suit filed soon after she was fired in January this year, drew the inference in a letter sent Friday to Christopher McPherson, the senior civil servant assigned to oversee Mr. Wyant’s investigation. 

“Earlier this week, I learned that information was circulating publicly to suggest that Judge Wyant had supposedly sent me a letter requesting an interview,” Ms. Mentzelopolous said in her letter to Mr. McPherson, the deputy minister of jobs, economy, trade and immigration. “I was further advised that it had been suggested I might be unwilling to meet with Judge Wyant.”

That suggestion, mockingly worded, appeared in a podcast and on social media posts run by a couple of individuals with past ties to the United Conservative Party Government. 

“This was surprising, as I have received no such request,” Ms. Mentzelopoulos continued in the letter, which she copied to some media reporters. “In fact, I have been waiting since March to hear from Judge Wyant and remain fully open to meeting with him. It’s difficult to interpret this latest claim as anything other than an attempt to mislead the public.”

On Thursday, she said, she learned from her legal counsel that his office was sent emails requesting she meet with Mr. Wyant. “They were sent to someone who is not currently in the office and no attempts were made to contact anyone else.” Interestingly, they were sent by someone identified in the government’s employee directory as an “issues manager” in the deputy minister’s office. 

This was odd, Ms. Mentzelopoulos observed in her letter, since the government has her personal email addresses. Indeed, as alert readers may recall, the government published one of her personal emails in a legal document it posted online! 

“There are likely only a few people who know about Judge Wyant’s activities, support him in his work, or receive updates on his progress,” she told Mr. McPherson in her letter. “If the source of these falsehoods lies within that group, it raises serious questions about their motives and judgment.

“Spreading misinformation of this nature undermines public trust. It also compromises both the real and perceived independence of Judge Wyant’s work. And it obviously has other intended effects.” (Namely – although she didn’t say this to Mr. McPherson – to discredit her important testimony.)

“You will no doubt want to immediately investigate these false claims which could have no other source than someone privy to Judge Wyant’s work,” her letter concluded. “Premier Danielle Smith has repeatedly claimed that Judge Wyant’s work will be free of political interference. It appears that may not be the case.”

Later on Friday, Mr. McPherson responded to Ms. Mentzelopoulos with a letter of his own specifying three occasions on which emails were sent to her legal counsel’s office. He did not offer an explanation of why his staff didn’t follow up at her personal email addresses, nor did he indicate if he intended to look into the apparent leak. Rather, he suggested, “You should raise any concerns that you may have about Judge Wyant’s process to him directly.”

Arguably, of course, Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s concern is not with the process followed by the retired judge’s inquiries, but with the activities of people inside or tied to the government who are aware of what is going on in his investigation. 

Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s lawsuit alleges that she was fired “capriciously, arbitrarily, and in bad faith because she was actually carrying out her duties for AHS” by starting to investigate questionable procurement and contracting decisions and influence by government insiders that had been brought to her attention by staff members. She is seeking $1.7 million in compensation for wrongful dismissal. 

NDP House Leader Christina Gray said in a statement that Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s latest revelations “show the same meddling that she was digging into at AHS is still happening now, to try and bury not only her investigations into corrupt practices but also the suspicious events around her dismissal.”

“The latest revelation is not surprising given Smith’s and her UCP government’s constant efforts to stop the truth from being revealed,” Ms. Gray added. 

Calling Mr. Wyant’s investigation “a carefully orchestrated alternative to a real public inquiry,” Ms. Gray called again for full public inquiry “free of political interference, broad in scope, and (with) the powers to subpoena which the current inquiry does not have.”