Justice minister says government is co-operating with RCMP probe of Alberta Health procurement

Alberta's justice minister said Thursday the province is giving the RCMP everything it needs to investigate alleged fraud, breach of trust and money laundering at Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services, after an NDP member pressed the government to account for the probe in question period.

Calgary-Currie MLA Janet Eremenko raised the RCMP investigation and asked whether any cabinet ministers had been contacted by investigators. Justice Minister Mickey Amery said the government will co-operate fully and repeated that a review led by retired Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant had cleared the government of wrongdoing.

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"We've said time and again that we will work with and cooperate with any RCMP investigation," Amery said. "We continue to make sure that the RCMP has everything that they need to get to the bottom of the AHS procurement issues."

Eremenko did not receive a direct answer to her question about whether cabinet ministers had been contacted by the RCMP. Instead, Amery defended the Wyant review, saying that every person the retired judge asked to interview agreed to participate. "No cabinet minister, no private member who was asked for an interview and refused," Amery said, adding that the only people who declined to be interviewed were members of AHS.

In her third question, Eremenko named three individuals — Sam Raich, Jitendra Prasad and Sam Jabbar — whom she described as friends, employees, donors or allies of Premier Danielle Smith, and asked how much more money the government would spend to avoid accountability. Amery disputed the characterization, saying the individuals were donors to the NDP, and again said the government looks forward to seeing what the RCMP and the Auditor General recommend.

The exchange was preceded by a caution from the Speaker, who told members to exercise restraint before raising issues related to hockey tickets or the subject matter of what he described as suspended but not cancelled Ethics Commissioner investigations. The Speaker said he would intervene if questions strayed into matters that ought not to be debated in the Assembly.

The Wyant report, released in October 2025, found no evidence of wrongful interference from Smith, her ministers or staff in procurement at Alberta Health and AHS. Amery said Thursday the government worked closely with Wyant's "judicially led inquiry" and intends to co-operate in the same way with the RCMP and the Auditor General.

The RCMP investigation is ongoing. The Auditor General's work on the matter is also continuing, according to Amery.

Watch the full sitting on the Legislative Assembly of Alberta's video.