AB Pol Econ

I anticipated that the Wyant report would absolve Smith and her political officials of any wrongdoing in the Mentzelopoulus affair. The premier wasted no time end declaring that Wyant had found no evidence of political meddling in the procurement practices of AHS. While it is true that the judge found no evidence of political meddling, he did acknowledge that there was political contact and it was justified in the name of accountability. Caveats to Report The Globe and Mail report on Wyant's report listed a number of limitations that the retired justice faced. These caveats included  inability to examine witnesses under oath; inability to subpoena witnesses; the "lack of vigor" in not be able to cross examine witnesses in a formal setting; the burden of dealing with t...

In May 2025, Marshall Smith launched a defamation suit against four parties: Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former CEO of Alberta Health Services (AHS); The Globe and Mail;  Carrie Tait a reporter for the Globe; and John Doe who is presumed to be a member of the AHS board. This Post examines the defence of Mentzelopoulos. In Part 2, I examine the SoD of The Globe and Mail and Carrie Tait.  Below are the SoC of Smith and the SoD of Mentzelopoulos. Defence of Mentzelopoulos Mentzelopoulos’s defence counsel are W.E. Brett Code K.C. and Amy Cooper of the Calgary law firm Tingle Merrett LLP.  The Statement of Defence (SoD) states that the claim should be denied in its entirety and therefore Smith is not entitled to any damages. The main argument of Counsel is that Mentzelopoulos’s pleadin...