Guthrie booted from UCP caucus over continued push for procurement scandal public inquiry

Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie has been expelled from the United Conservative Party (UCP) Caucus, the party said Wednesday.

This comes following weeks of turmoil between the UCP and Guthrie, who was first elected in 2019.

In February, he called for Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange to be removed from her post during an investigation into the Alberta Health Services procurement scandal.

A short time later, Guthrie resigned his position as Minister of Infrastructure, citing the scandal and other concerns about government procurement processes.

On Tuesday, Guthrie, who was suspended from the party for his behaviour, stood alongside independent MLA Scott Sinclair in voting with the Opposition NDP for a public inquiry into the AHS scandal. Sinclair was booted from caucus earlier this year for not supporting the provincial budget.

“To properly represent my constituents, I cannot be held in perpetuity to a suspension from the caucus, which comes with a gag order. I am now at day 48 of my so-called 30-day suspension, impeding my democratic right to represent the people of Airdrie-Cochrane,” Guthrie said in the Legislature Tuesday.

In a statement made Wednesday, the UCP called the decision to kick Guthrie out of caucus “difficult.”

“MLA Guthrie has made it clear that he does not support the Government’s decision to wait for the investigations of both the Auditor General and Judge Raymond Wyant to conclude prior to taking further action on the issue of AHS procurement practices and the allegations made by the former AHS CEO,” the party said.

“It is also clear that he wishes to continue to publicly voice his opposition to the government on that issue.”

The party says it wishes Guthrie well as he continues to represent Airdrie-Cochrane as their MLA.

“Criticizing government comes at a cost,” Peter Guthrie told reporters Wednesday.

“I was asking for openness, transparency, honesty and, instead of embracing that, the government has done everything that they can to impede processes, those very processes that could exonerate them,” he said.

“In doing so, they make themselves look culpable.”

The allegations stem from a lawsuit filed by the former head of AHS. Athana Mentzelopoulos claims she was wrongfully fired in January for looking into sweetheart deals, high-level political interference and corruption in multimillion-dollar health contracts.

The government and AHS have said Mentzelopoulos was fired because she was failing in her job and working to stop mandated health reform.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

With files from The Canadian Press