Wyant report identifies procurement problems at AHS

Posted on November 18, 2025 by Sunny South News

By Trevor Busch
Sunny South News
editor@tabertimes.com

Former Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant’s third party investigation report into health-care procurement practices by the province released last month identified “real or perceived” conflicts of interest among some Alberta Health Services officials, but stopped short of suggesting there was any wrongdoing by anyone in government.

Wyant was asked to conduct an investigation in March after contract allegations regarding for-profit providers arose from a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by the former head of Alberta Health Services, Athana Mentzelopoulos.

“I’m glad that we were able to get that report and shed some light on it,” said Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter. “I hope that people remember that you’re innocent until proven guilty. That’s what I’ve said. And yet, there’s a lot of people who are willing to point fingers. I’m glad that it came out. There’s still other stuff that needs to come out – AG (Auditor General) is going to do some reports, RCMP are going to do a report. Let’s get all the information. This was a great report – it’s good to see that they made some recommendations as well about some things that we need to fix up in the procurement process.” 

According to Premier Danielle Smith, the investigation involved the review and analysis of over two million documents and the interview and examination of 26 individuals.

Wyant made 18 recommendations in his report, including establishing a centralized system for conflict of interest declarations for AHS or the procuring agency, drafting a vendor code of conduct, whistleblower protection for AHS employees, mandatory conflict of interest training and having contracts exceeding $10 million reviewed by a procurement attorney.

“That is really what we need to do is find out what it is that we can make better,” continued Hunter. “That’s what the AG (Auditor General) is supposed to do as well – they’re supposed to provide us with a different lens on how we can make things better. And if things were being done that were not up to snuff then we should be making it better.”

In a news conference regarding the report, Smith admitted AHS officials had “skipped steps” but the province is taking action to improve accountability. While Wyant was careful to point out that he found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the premier, her ministers or other political staff, he did outline that because the investigation was not a public inquiry his powers were limited and he was not in a position to make “a final and absolute determination.”

Since its release, the opposition NDP have argued that Wyant’s report is far from an exoneration and have stepped up demands for a full public inquiry.