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Calgary Herald

Lorne Gunter: Alberta NDP also has ties to company at centre of health-care controversy

Hmm. Curious. Article content Article content I remember being a little surprised by the NDP's over-the-top reaction to allegations levelled against the UCP government by former Alberta Health Services (AHS) CEO, Athana Mentzelopoulos, in a lawsuit she brought against the government back in February. Article content Mentzelopoulos's allegations were serious but unproven. She claimed she was wrongfully dismissed by the government of Premier Danielle Smith earlier this year because she was about to investigate the possibility that UCP politicians and government officials were engaged in wide-ranging corruption, including overpaying for surgeries in private surgical clinics and paying full price ($75 million), upfront, for millions of bottles of Turkish Tylenol during the 2022 North American shortage of painkillers, especially for children. Article content Article content New Democratic Leader Naheed Nenshi immediately went ballistic. Based on nothing more than sensational claims levelled by one side in a contentious lawsuit, Nenshi insisted Mentzelopoulos's assertions were 'the most shocking allegations that I have ever seen.' Article content Article content Now here's what's curious: Mraiche and MHCare likely had equally strong ties to the NDP, both while the New Democrats were in office and afterwards. Article content Article content Sources have provided Postmedia with photographs of Mraiche and senior NDP ministers when they were in government, as well as after they lost to the UCP in 2019. The photos appear to show a very close personal connection to the NDP, particularly former Premier Rachel Notley and former Education Minister David Eggen — every bit as close as the UCP ties Nenshi descried as 'very, very strong.' Article content Article content As MHCare pointed out in an eight-page letter sent April 8 to Jobs, Economy and Trade Deputy Minister Christopher McPherson — a copy of which has also been obtained by Postmedia — over the years, the company has carried out several successful contracts for the provincial health service. Its contracts have always been made directly with AHS, not with the government of the day. Article content There are photos of Notley and Eggen at a private party at Mraiche's home while both were still in government and a photo of Notley with her husband, union organizer Lou Arab, at Mraiche's home nearly two years after the NDP left office.