“Our government has received and reviewed the final report of the Honourable Raymond E. Wyant, former Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba, regarding his investigation into Alberta Health Service’s procurement of children’s pain medication and chartered surgical facility contracts.

“I want to thank judge Wyant for his excellent and thorough work in this matter, which included the review and analysis of over two million documents and the interview and examination of 26 individuals with relevant knowledge of this matter.

“Judge Wyant’s conclusions in relation to the AHS procurement of children’s pain medication and one of the chartered surgical facility contracts, included the following:

  • There is no evidence the Premier, any minister, political staff member or member of the Alberta Public Service acted improperly in this matter.
  • AHS procurement of the children’s pain medication, and in the case of one of the surgical facility contracts, was not consistent with its own procurement policies.
  • AHS decision makers should have exercised greater due diligence to ensure its procurement policies were followed, including conducting a legal review of the purchase order and contracts in question.
  • AHS and its employees involved in the procurement of children’s pain medication, and for one of the chartered surgical facility contracts, did not properly disclose or investigate potential conflicts of interest.

“Although the judge’s findings clearly indicate that elected officials, senior staff and members of the public service acted appropriately in these matters, I am deeply disappointed with the way these procurements and contracts were dealt with by AHS decision makers and some of its employees.

“When elected officials request products or services be procured for the public, we trust that there are rigorous processes in place to ensure taxpayer dollars are respected and that those processes be followed. We also expect that any conflicts of interest, real or perceived, are properly disclosed and protected against.

“Clearly, AHS decision makers did not do so in these cases.

“It is clear from the findings in judge Wyant’s report that AHS procurement policies and practices were either insufficient or not properly enforced. Now that procurement is being moved into Acute Care Alberta, as previously announced, our government will be able to ensure stronger accountability and transparency for taxpayers going forward.

“Judge Wyant made 18 recommendations for the government’s consideration, related to strengthening procurement policies, codes of conduct, legal oversight and conflict of interest rules as they pertain to health procurement.

“I am immediately directing the deputy minister of Executive Council, Dale McFee, to work with all impacted ministries and the new health procurement secretariat to implement judge Wyant’s recommendations as quickly as possible so that future health procurement is done transparently, using best practices.

“This will include the accelerated implementation of the Activity-Based Funding model for surgical services that will see a standard, non-negotiated fee paid to providers for each completed surgery, thereby increasing transparency and more efficient use of taxpayer dollars going forward.”

Judge Wyant’s full report can be found here: Procurement Processes, Practices and Outcomes at Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services