Changing the channel on the Dodgy Contracts Scandal
When scandal threatens to envelop a government, the politicians spin hard
“Changing the channel” might be an outdated metaphor in a world where online streaming is how a lot of people now watch “television,” but it is a term that remains in use by politicians and political communicators to describe a strategy to draw attention away from something you don’t want to be on the top of people’s minds or the front pages of the news websites.
That’s exactly what Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government has been trying to do since Globe & Mail reporter Carrie Tait broke the Dodgy Contract Scandal last week.
The bombshell story revolves around allegations that senior political staff in the government were involved in a $600 million procurement scandal and that AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos was fired by the government two days before she was scheduled to meet with the Auditor General “to discuss her investigation into procurement contracts and deals for private surgical facilities.”
Changing the channel got a lot more difficult after Mentzelopoulos filed her $1.7 million improper dismissal lawsuit against the government at the Court of King’s Bench yesterday.
After the story broke, the normally prolific and enthusiastic crowd-seeking Premier Smith appeared to avoid any public events last weekend and cancelled her weekly call-in radio show, instead issuing only a written statement in response to the allegations. She then jetted off to Washington DC to join other provincial premiers on a lobbying tour of the American capital city.
Smith’s statement was released just before the next shoe dropped in the Dodgy Contract Scandal - that an order from Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange stripped AHS’s power to negotiate private surgical centre contracts, bringing control directly under her ministry in the government instead.
In an obvious attempt to to divert attention from the scandalous allegations, Smith’s staff posted social media graphics calling on the federal government to name the new Fentanyl Czar (which they did a few days later), released a press statement criticizing a new federal crime law, and attacked the Canadian Union of Public Employees. CUPE is representing thousands of education workers on strike right now in Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Morinville, St. Albert and Sturgeon County, and potentially others soon in Calgary, Parkland County, Leduc County, High River and Okotoks.
None of these diversions succeeded in changing the channel but it did create some noise.
The first cabinet ministers to break the silence on the allegations were Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women Tanya Fir and Minister of Children and Family Services Searle Turton, who were asked about the scandal at the end of an unrelated press conference on Tuesday.
The ministers’ main talking point in response to questions from reporters was that they are ‘proud of the Premier’s decisive leadership in calling on the Auditor General to conduct an expedited review’ and that they won’t say anything until the review is completed. That last point is key, as there isn’t really any reason a cabinet minister couldn’t comment on it, even with Mentzelopoulos’ lawsuit and at least three other investigations currently happening (two which will report directly to the Premier).
Smith finally faced questions from reporters at a Washington DC press conference yesterday where she somewhat confusingly responded that she just learned about the allegations after reading about them online last week and had also been trying to get more information about it for the past eight months.
Smith’s puzzling answer was followed by a written statement from LaGrange that seemed to insinuate that firing Mentzelopoulos was always part of the province’s plan to restructure AHS restructuring, even though she was only just one year into a four year contract (the AHS board was dissolved not long after and replaced by Official Administrator Andre Tremblay, who is also now serving as the interim CEO of AHS and Deputy Minister of Health).
The allegations have given NDP leader Naheed Nenshi a platform and he has handled it well, not overplaying his hand like some opposition politicians have done in reacting to past government scandals. Nenshi is still waiting for the by-election to be called in Edmonton-Strathcona so he can claim a seat in the Legislature and has relied heavily on experienced opposition MLAs like Christina Gray, Sarah Hoffman and Rakhi Pancholi to take the lead on this issue.
Comparisons to Redford scandals
Some commentators have made comparisons between these allegations against Smith’s UCP government and the political scandals that ended the political career of Progressive Conservative Premier Alison Redford in 2014.
The University of Alberta’s Dr. Jared Wesley published an excellent article last week describing the anatomy of political scandals.
There are a lot of differences between these allegations and past scandals but a key one is that when Redford resigned in March 2014, she had lost the support of her caucus and party. Some PC MLAs had already left the caucus to sit as Independents and others were threatening to if she didn’t resign. PC constituency presidents were also openly talking about holding a vote of non-confidence in her leadership.
There doesn’t appear to be any public disunity coming from the UCP in response to the allegations in the Dodgy Contracts Scandal. Minister LaGrange is likely feeling nervous about her future political prospects and there is talk in political circles of two or three unhappy cabinet ministers privately distancing themselves from Smith over this issue.
But there is no open revolt, yet, and it’s not difficult to understand why.
Smith earned the support of 91 percent of UCP members who voted in last year’s leadership review, the party has maintained its support in the public opinion polls since the last election, and the UCP had very healthy fundraising returns in the fourth quarter of 2024.
In an era of increasingly polarized partisan politics, one singular scandal rarely proves to be a career ending blow, but an accumulation of scandals can be politically devastating.
As Ernest Hemingway once wrote “How did you go bankrupt?" Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” The same can be said of political scandals.
So stay tuned.
Two Alberta Conservative MPs not running for re-election
Red Deer-Mountain View MP Earl Dreeshen and Bow River MP Martin Shields have announced their names won’t be on the ballot when the next federal election is called. Both MP’s had been acclaimed as Conservative Party candidates for the next election, so with potentially only just over month left until the next federal election could be called, the party will need to nominate new candidates.
A handful of prospective candidates have stepped up to succeed them.
Red Deer
Three candidates have entered the race to replace Dreeshen so far.
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