Following Alberta Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie's resignation, Premier Danielle Smith released a comment on Tuesday.
Although Smith has accepted Guthrie's resignation letter, she says: “We have pledged our government’s full cooperation and support to the Auditor General to expedite his review so we can have answers as soon as possible.
Smith said she has directed senior civil service to retain a highly credible third party with a strong legal background capable of investigating this matter independently of government to help understand the matter and underline what occurred with regard to the AHS procurement processes in question.
“We also want to determine why, despite months of requests, AHS never brought any substantive evidence or documentation related to this matter to the Minister of Health or to government," she said.
In her statement, she also stated that she wasn't involved in these procurement decisions.
"I want to reiterate that I was not involved in these procurement decisions, nor am I aware of any wrongdoing with regard to the issues raised by the former CEO. My actions were straightforward: the government made a policy decision to expand surgical facilities to tackle the critical issue of wait times, and we all trusted that that direction would be acted upon and implemented by AHS."
