Report into Alberta Health Services contracts finds conflicts widely known

EDMONTON — A report into allegations of corruption in Alberta Health Services contracts says it was widely known two employees were in conflicts of interest, but no steps were taken by senior officials.

Former Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant writes in his report, released Friday, that he found no evidence of wrongful interference from Premier Danielle Smith, her ministers or staff.

But he says the AHS deals he reviewed went against the agency’s procurement policies.

Smith told reporters the report vindicates her government, but the Opposition NDP said it leaves too many questions unanswered.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit that started it all is still working its way through the courts.

Wyant says in the report his investigation was limited in getting to the bottom of the scandal involving multimillion-dollar deals for pain medication from Turkey and for-profit surgical providers.

He says those limits mean he can’t make any definitive statements.

“When I find that there was no wrongful interference by any government official in the matters concerning this report, that only means that I found no evidence of such,” he says.

“I can only make conclusions based on the documents I was able to review and the people I interviewed.”

Wyant says some unnamed individuals refused interviews or avoided answering questions.

He was not made available for questions.

The investigation stemmed from allegations in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed earlier this year by a former chief executive officer of AHS, the provincial health authority.

Athana Mentzelopoulos has alleged she was fired in January for looking into the questionable contracts, while the government claims she was fired for incompetence. The allegations have not been proven in court.

The allegations also sparked investigations by the RCMP and Alberta’s auditor general, which are ongoing.

The government ordered the Wyant investigation in March.

He interviewed 26 people, including a businessman at the heart of some of the allegations and the two former AHS employees found in conflicts of interest, Jitendra Prasad and Blayne Iskiw.

“The situations … where both Mr. Prasad and Mr. Iskiw were in real or perceived conflicts of interest, were widely known by many people at AHS, and yet no steps were taken by senior officials to deal with the situation with either person,” Wyant writes.

“This demonstrates the need for having processes that would allow people to bring matters such as this to the attention of others without fear.”

Wyant did not interview Smith, her current chief of staff or any of her ministers.

Because the investigation wasn’t a public inquiry, it couldn’t compel records or subpoena witnesses to testify under oath.

Of those he interviewed, Wyant says he felt many tried to tell the truth, but he had the impression some weren’t providing “complete information.”

Smith said the report makes it clear AHS decision-makers didn’t follow their own rules.

“A lot of the revelations that we heard were news to us,” she said.

She said the report raises questions about why officials skipped steps and didn’t flag conflicts of interest.

There were bad practices at AHS, the premier said, and that will be solved by moving contracting duties to the new health agency Acute Care Alberta.

“Procurement was a bit of a mess, and that’s the reason why we had to take it over,” said Smith.

She also said she expected all government staff and ministers to co-operate in Wyant’s investigation, but “he did not make a request for interviews.”

The Opposition NDP, which has called for a full public inquiry, dismissed the report as a whitewash.

Deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi said Wyant was clearly handcuffed and his report doesn’t exonerate anyone in the government.

“What the report does not answer is the question of who in the UCP directed or encouraged the conflict of interests and that those (AHS) procurement policies shouldn’t be followed,” she said.

“This report does not answer that question because the premier never intended it to.”

One of the contracts under the microscope, for children’s pain medication, was announced by the government in late 2022. The United Conservative government has long stood by the decision to import the medication during a countrywide shortage.

Wyant found Prasad was negotiating contracts on behalf of AHS while in a business relationship with an individual at MHCare Medical, the company awarded the $70-million contract to import the medication.

Almost $50 million in product wasn’t delivered, and Wyant says much of what was received remains in storage despite government attempts to off-load it.

The second was a contract for a private surgical company Iskiw worked for as a consultant after leaving AHS, the report says.

Wyant says there was concern over Iskiw’s ability to use his AHS knowledge to negotiate on behalf of vendors.

“There would be a perceived conflict,” says Wyant.

Prasad and Iskiw could not be reached for comment.

Mentzelopoulos said in a statement that even with Wyant’s limited mandate, he identifies many of the same concerns she tried to investigate as CEO.

“His report confirms that these were very legitimate issues that AHS was continuing to investigate when I was terminated two days before my meeting with the auditor general to discuss many of these same issues,” she said.

MHCare, in a statement, welcomed the report, saying it found no evidence of political intervention, an allegation in the lawsuit from Mentzelopoulos.

The company says the report also makes no findings against MHCare, its subsidiaries or its CEO, Sam Mraiche.

“This confirms our organization’s long-stated position that, whether it concerns the emergency procurement of analgesics or matters related to Chartered Surgical Facilities (CSFs), we have acted always in full compliance with all applicable policies, procedures, regulations and laws.”

Wyant’s investigation looked at more than two million documents.

He made 18 recommendations for the government and health agencies, including improving conflict and procurement policies and better whistleblower protection.

AHS, in a statement, said it accepts the findings and will co-operate fully to implement the recommendations. It said it has already been working to strengthen internal controls.

Smith said she has directed her top bureaucrat, Dale McFee, to work with ministries to implement the recommendations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2025.

Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press