Alberta’s addictions minister is rejecting suggestions he knows a former government staffer now at the centre of a lawsuit alleging high-level political interference and favouritism in multimillion-dollar health contracts.
Dan Williams, answering questions from reporters Tuesday, denied knowing Jitendra Prasad.
"To my knowledge, I've never met (him)," he said at an unrelated news conference at the legislature.
Williams was asked about his involvement after he was mentioned twice in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed two weeks ago by Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former head of Alberta Health Services.
Alberta Health Services delivers front-line care but its role is being sharply reduced amid health-care restructuring.
Menztelopoulos is seeking $1.7 million in damages and back pay, alleging she was fired last month for investigating lucrative, favourable contracts that were given to certain private surgery operators and pushed for by high-level political officials.
The suit alleges conflicts of interest involving Prasad, a former government employee who worked in procurement.
Prasad, Mentzelopoulos alleges in her statement of claim, worked in procurement for AHS and simultaneously had an email account with MHCare Medical.
MHCare is a private health-care company that was contracted in 2022 for an order of $70 million in children's pain medication amid a provincewide shortage. Only 30 per cent of the contract has been fulfilled and AHS stopped using the medication over safety concerns.
None of the allegations have been proven in court. Williams is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit includes comments reportedly made by Williams' deputy minister, who is the top civil servant in the ministry.
According to the statement of claim, the deputy minister told Mentzelopoulos in a January phone call that Williams was "very concerned" about the internal investigations, including one involving "our good friend JP," with JP being a reference to Prasad.
Williams said Tuesday, "I can't speak to the language that my deputy minister used in that phone call," in reference to his deputy calling Prasad "our good friend.”
"I assume it's tongue-in-cheek, but I can tell you, to my knowledge, I've never met (Prasad) and I would not consider him a friend."
Williams said his concern revolved around the potential misuse of public dollars, and not with who was being investigated. He added that his deputy minister found there was no evidence of wrongdoing in his ministry.
Williams also said he met MHCare Medical owner Sam Mraiche at a dinner two years ago, but said the two did not discuss business.
Prasad could not be reached for comment.
Premier Danielle Smith has launched an internal inquiry into the procurement allegations and is looking for an independent third party to take the lead. The province’s auditor general is also investigating.
Williams said he will rely on the results of an investigation by the auditor general to decide whether to investigate procurement in his ministry.
Williams' comments come on the same day Alberta Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie quit his cabinet post citing concerns with how Smith’s government has handled procurement contracts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2025.
Matthew Scace, The Canadian Press
