National

Alberta's auditor general granted extra $1M for health procurement probe

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 24 Jun, 2025 09:23 AM

Alberta's auditor general has been granted his request for nearly $1 million in extra funding to dig deeper into allegations of corruption in private health care contracts.

Auditor general Doug Wylie says the scope and complexity of the probe means his office needs to hire additional help and cover legal costs.

Members from both the United Conservative Party government and Opposition NDP who sit on the legislature committee that approved the request say Wylie is doing important work.

His investigation began earlier this year as a result of allegations made by the former head of Alberta Health Services, the provincial health authority.

Athana Mentzelopoulos is suing the government for wrongful dismissal, claiming she faced political interference on the job and was fired for looking into overpriced contracts.

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

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Poilievre's proposed incentives for First Nations water, resource projects draw fire

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would incentivize First Nations to support natural-resource projects through industry taxes and revisiting how much sway Indigenous Peoples and environmental considerations have over approving projects. The proposals drew swift criticism from some experts and researchers.

Poilievre's proposed incentives for First Nations water, resource projects draw fire

Indigenous kids in care more likely to experience poor health later in life: report

Indigenous people who were in government care as children experience poorer health and socioeconomic outcomes later in life than those who were never in care, a new Statistics Canada report says. They suffer higher rates of disability, lower self-rated health levels and more homelessness, and are more likely to struggle to meet basic household needs, the report says.

Indigenous kids in care more likely to experience poor health later in life: report

Ex-coroner says B.C.'s drug policy overhaul looks like 'impulsive political decision'

British Columbia's former chief coroner says she's disappointed by the province's overhaul of its program that provides prescription alternatives to toxic street drugs, a shift she says "feels like a really impulsive political decision." Lisa Lapointe said the move to a "witnessed-only" model in which people are supervised while consuming their prescription drugs appeared to ignore scientific evidence.

Ex-coroner says B.C.'s drug policy overhaul looks like 'impulsive political decision'

Internal military report blames botched shooter drill on poor organization

During the drill, which took place on Nov. 12 at a service depot at CFB Longue-Pointe in Montreal, military police also confused a racialized employee with a drill participant playing an active shooter and wrestled him to the ground.

Internal military report blames botched shooter drill on poor organization

70% of Canadians support retaliatory tariffs on United States: poll

Seventy per cent of Canadians are in favour of dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs on the United States, a new poll suggests. Nearly half of respondents to the Leger poll — 45 per cent — said they were strongly in favour of such tariffs, while 25 per cent said they were somewhat in favour.

70% of Canadians support retaliatory tariffs on United States: poll

Police release names of victims in Abbotsford double homicide

Police have released the names of the two victims in an Abbotsford double homicide in January. A statement from the province's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says police responded to a vehicle fire in Sumas Mountain Regional Park on Jan. 3 and found a 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander engulfed in flames.