A final report into allegations of corruption in Alberta health contracts says it was widely known two staffers were in “real or perceived” conflicts of interest but no steps were taken by senior health officials.
Former Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant wrote in the report that his investigation was limited in getting to the bottom of the scandal involving multimillion-dollar Alberta Health Services deals for pain medication and private surgical providers.
Wyant says he found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Premier Danielle Smith, her ministers or other political staff.
But he says limited powers afforded to him mean he can’t make any definitive statements.
“That only means that I found no evidence of such,” he says in the report, released Friday.
“I can only make conclusions based on the documents I was able to review and the people I interviewed.”
He also expresses doubt about whether some people he interviewed were telling the truth.
In the report’s introduction, Wyant said “because there was not the kind of vigorous examination and cross examination that would take place in a formal setting, I could not come to conclusions on the credibility of information provided verbally by interviewees.”
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“In most cases, I perceived, based on my experience, that people were striving to tell the truth and to recall events in as much detail as possible,” Wyant writes.
“However, there were occasions where I was left with the impression that might not be the case nor that full and complete information was being provided.”
The report makes 18 recommendations for the Alberta government and health agencies, including improving conflict and procurement policies and better whistleblower protection.
The investigation stemmed from allegations in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by a former chief executive officer of Alberta’s provincial health authority. Smith’s government ordered the investigation in March.
Wyant said he interviewed a total of 26 people for his investigation, including a businessman at the heart of some of the allegations and the two staffers found in conflict: Jitendra Prasad and Blayne Iskiw.
“The situation, 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.
“Most people seemed to have assumed that those in charge were aware of and had dealt with (or were dealing with) these matters, but this does not appear to have been the case.
“This demonstrates the need for having processes that would allow people to bring matters such as this to the attention of others without fear.”
Neither Smith, nor her current chief of staff, nor any of her ministers or her former health minister were among those interviewed.
Smith, in a statement, said the report “clearly indicated” elected officials, senior staff and members of the public service acted appropriately.
However, she said she’s “deeply disappointed with the way these procurements and contracts were dealt with by AHS decision makers and some of its employees,” said Smith.
The premier said she’s directed her top bureaucrat, Dale McFee, to work with the government ministries involved to implement Wyant’s recommendations.
The Opposition NDP will respond to the report on Friday afternoon.
— More to come…
© 2025 The Canadian Press
