Alberta premier's ex-chief of staff sues former AHS CEO, newspaper over health contracting corruption allegations

Calgary Herald

15-05-2025

Article content
Premier Danielle Smith's former chief of staff has jumped into the fray over allegations of corruption in health care procurement, filing a $12-million lawsuit against ex-Alberta Health Services CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos and the Globe and Mail for what he claims are defamatory statements.
Article content
Article content
Marshall Smith (no relation to the premier) filed a statement of claim in Edmonton Court of King's Bench Wednesday against the Globe, Mentzelopoulos and an unidentified person Smith claims is a former member of the AHS board of directors.
Article content
Article content
While not a defendant in Mentzelopoulos's bombshell lawsuit, which alleges she was wrongfully dismissed for investigating alleged corruption in health-care contracting, Smith claims Mentzelopoulos and the Globe have portrayed him 'in the worst possible light.'
Article content
Article content
'The damage to Smith's professional reputation caused by Mentzelopoulos has resulted in Smith suffering emotional distress, stress, depression, anxiety, embarrassment, loss of reputation, humiliation and an inability to secure work in his chosen profession,' the statement of claim reads.
Article content
As someone who is not a party to Mentzelopoulos's initial lawsuit, her allegations about him are 'gratuitous, irrelevant and are unnecessary,' the claim adds.
Article content
'Smith is not afforded the opportunity to respond to these false statements or to provide a statement of defence denying and responding to such false statements.'
Article content
Smith, who stepped down as the premier's chief of staff last fall after a tenure which often saw him as the public face of Alberta's addictions treatment policies, accused the defendants of inaccurately painting him as a 'corrupt' 'bully' who engaged in criminal activity.
Article content
Article content
The claim calls the allegations against Smith 'malicious in nature and advanced in an attempt to knowingly bolster (Mentzelopoulos's) false narrative that she was terminated from AHS because she was investigating wrongdoing in respect of AHS's procurement of chartered surgical facilities.'
Article content
Article content
Statements of claim contain allegations that have not been proven in court.
Article content
AHS and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange have denied wrongdoing, alleging in a statement of defence that Mentzelopoulos was incompetent and had become distracted by investigations they say had produced no results, at the expense of critical health-care reforms.