Alberta separatist party joins calls for public inquiry into AHS scandal
Posted Aug 12, 2025 9:12 am.
Last Updated Aug 12, 2025 9:13 am.
An Alberta political party seeking to separate the province from Canada is now calling for a public inquiry into the Alberta Health Services (AHS) procurement scandal.
Alberta Republican Party Leader Cam Davies claims the controversy has cost taxpayers over $1 billion, and a judicial inquiry is the only credible path forward.
Davies, a former member of the UCP, says the internal investigation has been compromised by leaks and “evidence of political interference,” which is “eroding public trust.”
“Albertans deserve the truth, and they won’t get it from a process shrouded in secrecy,” he said in a statement released Monday.
“The integrity of our healthcare system and democratic institutions is at stake. An independent judicial inquiry is the only credible path forward.”
Davies adds it’s not a partisan issue, but about “accountability and transparency.”
This comes after Athana Mentzelopoulos, once the CEO of AHS, filed a lawsuit against the provincial government in February, alleging wrongful dismissal.
She issued a letter Friday to Christopher McPherson, the senior civil servant overseeing the investigation, denying claims circulating publicly and online that she was unwilling to meet with retired Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant for an interview in his investigation.
Mentzelopoulos says they came from the select group of people privy to Wyant’s work, who could undermine public trust and compromise the “real and perceived” independence of the probe.
CityNews has reached out to the Office of the premier for comment.
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The party joins the Alberta NDP, Peter Guthrie, and Scott Sinclair in calling for a public inquiry. The latter two, like Davies, were also members of the UCP.
Davies has also criticized the efforts of the Alberta Next panel and the ongoing referendum questions on staying or leaving, saying the province should have an immediate binding referendum on separation.
He ran in the Alberta byelection in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills in June, finishing third behind the UCP’s Tara Sawyer and the NDP’s Beverley Toews.
With files from The Canadian Press
