The Alberta health care procurement controversy, explained A look at the people, companies and government agencies involved in the Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services story

I know, I know. The Alberta health care procurement controversy can be confusing. But we got your back! Here's a cheatsheet, explaining who's who:

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...
By @moirawyton.bsky.social and friends

Alberta's significant decline in toxic drug deaths already showing cracks In the span of one month, reported overdose deaths in May of this year have climbed from 73 to 87, a 19.2% increase over the originally released data

🧵 Remember two summers ago when the Alberta government congratulated itself for allowing 'just' 73 drug toxicity deaths in May 2024?

And a very small number of people suggested that their number was bullshit?

We were right. It was. 1/
www.thebind.ca/p/albertas-s...

And these aren’t “potential” conflicts of interest.
The study authors:
•donated > $7,000 to UCP
•make money from private AB government contracts
•all work for the AB govt, except one
•have taken ‘speaking fees’ from govt-sponsored conferences
•failed to report even one of these ☝️in the disclosures

Fun footnote…

Who allegedly handpicked Jitendra Prasad for procurement with Alberta Health?

According to the former AHS CEO’s lawsuit, none other than Danielle Smith’s right hand man at the time…

Marshall Smith.

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Alberta construction company alleges Sam Mraiche played hidden role in building of addiction sites Mraiche, who is central to the province’s health care procurement controversy, denies involvement

SCOOP: Two companies involved in building some of Alberta's addiction recovery centres are mired in litigation, including accusations of forgery on one side and allegations of intimidation involving Sam Mraiche, of MHCare
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... By @tomcardoso.bsky.social and friend

Accounting firm owned by Smith government appointee searched by RCMP Business owned by Sam Jaber, who was appointed to the board of Invest Alberta in 2023, searched in continuing probe

SCOOP: RCMP search accounting firm owned by appointee of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, police attend home of former AHS procurement official
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... w @tomcardoso.bsky.social @mattscace.bsky.social @janapruden.bsky.social @alannasmith.bsky.social

To be clear, the study Doug Ford cited today to justify his (ill-advised) decision to close supervised consumption sites in Ontario is not from the University of Alberta. It's from an Alberta government crown corporation.

bullshit on bullshit on bullshit from Alberta and Ontario
www.cp24.com/video/2026/0...

Alberta teams up with Saskatchewan, Ontario to build recovery care systems The governments of Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan are establishing a partnership to help strengthen recover...

First, the timing is no coincidence. These provinces are coordinating their approach.

The big announcement at 2024 Alberta Recovery Conference was AB-SK-ON forming an axis of ‘recovery-oriented systems of care,’ aka Alberta Recovery Model / abstinence-only. 2/
rdnewsnow.com/2024/04/04/a...

Centre of Recovery Excellence manipulating health information of people who use drugs to undermine their safety The Alberta government's Crown corporation has published its first study using personal health numbers of people accessing supervised consumption sites. While its findings fail to hold up, it offers ...

On Mar 11, AB government celebrated its ‘study’ it claimed found nobody was harmed by its closure of Red Deer’s supervised consumption site.

On Mar 13, ON govt surprise-announced closure of all remaining sites.

This is a manufactured disinformation crisis. 1/
drugdatadecoded.ca/centre-of-re...

🧵 Breaking: Alberta government embarrasses itself again

Today, the Centre of Recovery Excellence (CoRE) published a study. Unfortunately, last month I published two stories showing how their data are junk.

Let's take a look. 1/

You can blame Alberta for spreading the myths BC has now internalized to allow so many to die, but this is foremost a crisis of leadership.

(And, those myths were conceived in BC, then funded, incubated and nurtured in AB, and exported back to BC.)

I’d like people to hear this interview bc I’m probably the only person who’s going to read and interpret these 1000s of emails to convey what’s been happening inside the health authority responsible for supervised consumption sites since 2024.

Can't wait for pt III ✊🏼

🧵 SUPERVISED CONSUMPTION CLOSURES

It’s been obvious for years that Alberta’s UCP government wants the sites closed.

So what’s stopped them? Why didn’t they just do it after Kenney said he wouldn’t “help addicts inject poison” in 2018?

They needed plausible legitimacy. 1/

"Inaccurate data": How Recovery Alberta officials facilitated consumption site closures (Pt 2) Selective data sharing by some of Alberta's top health officials may backstop plausible deniability for government negligence in closing sites – with impacts all the way to Ontario.

Alberta has a serious disinformation problem, its government weaponizing “experts” willing to cash in credentials for power.

Last year, that tactic — and those people — were leveraged to help close supervised consumption sites across Ontario.
drugdatadecoded.ca/inaccurate-d...

100% agree, best of both worlds from their perspective

I'd be curious to see how many people were turned away from a service or sent a huge bill for ANY mental health and addiction service in AB since that initiative went into effect... But I'm less worried about the specifically exempted services (mandated treatment, SCS, etc)

I'm not sure I understand this framing. If people could access the service anonymously and were exempt from billing, what indication is there that a single person was turned away because of billing?

Lot of issues with how UCP has systematically attacked SCS, just having trouble following this line.

"We can help": How Recovery Alberta facilitated consumption site closures by Ministry (Part 1) "No other sites shutting down," Recovery Alberta leaders told staff in late 2024, as the Red Deer site closure was announced. A year later, the Royal Alex Hospital site was closed. New documents revea...

So basically, it looks like the people in charge of the health service that oversees supervised consumption sites in Alberta have been quietly manoeuvring to have them shut down.
drugdatadecoded.ca/we-can-help-...

So do something about it @sanders.senate.gov! The revolution needs a leader, not pointless commentary.

Will you be debating Yves Engler at all?

Will you be debating Yves Engler anytime soon?

And sorry - I can’t get a gift link, but there are 23 mentions of Marshall Smith in this article.

Includes him signing off on hiring of four Sam Mraiche family members into the Alberta govt, and living in a house owned by Mraiche’s sister w/ younger govt staffers Smith had supervised.

So the guy selling COVID supplies to the government was hoping for more intense COVID waves, a direct outcome of policy decisions by a government he influenced through dozens of channels.

Carney, Smith sign sweeping energy deal, pledge new pipeline to West Coast Federal government won’t implement its oil and gas emissions cap, and both sides will consult with B.C. on project, MOU says

Total capitulation www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

Involuntary treatment for substance use: application of Kass’ ethical framework to Alberta’s Compassionate Intervention Act Key points In Canada, more than 50 000 opioid-related deaths have occurred since September 2024, mostly in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario, where governments are all in various stages of develo...

"Alberta’s Compassionate Intervention Act — which will allow for the involuntary admission of people who use substances, even when they have[..]capacity to make decisions about their care — lacks sufficient evidence of effectiveness + poses substantial ethical concerns"

www.cmaj.ca/content/197/...

MEDIA
1. Cite online poll inflating support for encampment eviction
2. Amplify one crime drumming up fear of encampments
3. Cite ‘anonymous resident’ concerned for safety
…
GOVERNMENTS
4. Empower police to harass, abuse and burglarize unhoused people
5. Build no public housing

➡️Alberta Method

Woohoo. The king of neoliberalism will lead the revolution. Hip hip hooray.
👀

Andre Tremblay's two cell phones will have to start calling eachother.
What a farce.