Auditor general granted $1M more for private surgical contracts probe

Alberta's auditor general has been granted his request for nearly $1 million extra provincial funding to dig deeper into allegations around overpriced private health care contracts and possible government interference.

Auditor Doug Wylie told a legislative committee on Tuesday his office needs to hire contractors with specialized skills, and rely on legal advice to complete his probe.

In an interview, he couldn't quantify how many documents are involved in the investigation, except to say it was a large number.

"We're going to be using technology a great deal on this audit," Wylie said. "There's a volume of material to get through, both written and other medium information, we're going through and looking through, as well as talking to a number of individuals."

Wylie, whose term as auditor ends April 28, 2026, said he's determined that his office will finish the investigation before that date.

The auditor's examination began earlier this year as a result of allegations made by the former head of Alberta Health Services, Athana Mentzelopoulos. She is suing the government and AHS for wrongful dismissal, claiming she faced political interference on the job and was fired for looking into overpriced contracts and potential conflicts of interest, among other allegations.

The allegations have yet to be tested in court and the province has denied any wrongdoing, stating in court filings instead that Mentzelopoulos was fired for poor job performance.

Mentzelopoulos's claims have prompted several other probes, including an internal review of contracting by AHS, an RCMP investigation, and the provincial government appointment of a retired Manitoba judge to study the government's health procurement practices.

The auditor's examination is focused on Alberta's purchase of COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE), children's pain medication from Turkey, and contracts with chartered surgical facilities.

Wylie said Tuesday his office hadn't budgeted for the extra expense of auditing the province's new health organizations. The government has created four new entities to hive off responsibility for mental health and addictions, primary care, acute care and assisted living.

The auditor said not only must his office examine the process of carving each new organization out of AHS, but accountants must do separate audits on the new entities. He asked for additional money to cover the cost of auditing Recovery Alberta, which was the first new organization created last year.

Wylie said the public service commission's announcement of a three per cent pay raise for non-unionized staff also increased expenses unexpectedly.

The committee approved an extra $1.67 million for Wylie's office, which had previously received a budget of $30.2 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

UCP members of the legislative committee agreed with the Opposition's motion to grant the request and said it was important for the auditor to continue his work.

"I think they were caught in public and on the record, and they knew what it would look like if they denied this," Edmonton-Centre NDP MLA and committee member David Shepherd told reporters.

Wylie said a failure to grant the funds would have meant halting the health procurement investigation while the auditor's office reassessed its priorities.

"I felt relieved," Wylie said in an interview. "I didn't want to have to deal with the alternative."

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the cost of health administration — and auditing health organizations — is destined to balloon under the government's health reorganization plan.

Boost for Elections Alberta

Elections Alberta had budgeted for two potential byelections in the 2025-26 budget year, chief electoral officer Gordon McClure told the committee on Tuesday.

However, the agency was tasked with running three byelections on Monday to fill vacant seats in the legislature, prompting his office to spend $534,000 it didn't have.

McClure asked for funding for another byelection, should any more seats be vacated in the next nine months.

The chief electoral officer also said it will cost an unanticipated $835,000 to hire staff with specialized skills and adapt computer programs for a complex suite of electoral reform and election financing changes the government introduced this spring.

Among the changes prompted by Bill 54 are reforms that set a time limit and add hurdles for Elections Alberta to investigate alleged breaches of elections laws. The bill banned vote tabulators in provincial elections eliminated a voter's option to vote anywhere in the province, and removed the ability of a person to vouch for someone's identity at a polling station if they lacked ID.

The bill will re-introduce corporate and union donations to provincial politics, increase the spending limits for third-party advertisers, and loosen donation limits for contributors. It also allows limitless donations to nomination contests. These changes have not yet come into force.

The committee approved a $1.9-million funding increase for Elections Alberta, on top of its $12-million budget for the year.

NDP MLA Shepherd said the government's election reforms will be costly.

"What are the costs going to be to properly inform Albertans about significant changes to their elections?" Shepherd said. "There are significant changes to when people can access an advance vote, to where they can vote, to their ability to vote if they do not have the government prescribed ID."