Alberta’s auditor general has been granted permission to intervene in two related appeals stemming from a high-profile legal case involving Alberta Health Services (AHS), with the province’s top court stressing the need to preserve judicial neutrality.
In a decision issued Friday, Justice Jane Fagnan of the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the Auditor General of Alberta may file written submissions in Mentzelopoulos v Alberta Health Services. The case, which has sparked public interest over questions of government oversight and institutional transparency, centres on the management and governance of AHS.
The auditor general will not take a side in the underlying dispute but will weigh in on two specific grounds of appeal raised by the appellants.
“The Auditor General has a unique role and relevant perspective that will assist the Court in its deliberations,” Fagnan wrote. “I am satisfied the Auditor General also has a particular interest in the outcome of the appeals and will be directly and specially affected by the outcome.”
Under Alberta law, parties seeking to intervene must either be directly impacted by the case or possess specialized expertise that can aid the court. The court found the auditor general met both thresholds, but imposed strict limits to avoid politicizing the process or expanding the issues under appeal.
The court emphasized that the auditor general’s role must remain narrowly focused. “This Court is not to be transformed into a political arena,” the ruling noted.
The appeals arise from a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by Athana Mentzelopoulos, former president and CEO of AHS, against the agency and the Government of Alberta. She was terminated in January 2024.
The defendants allege that on the eve of her dismissal, Mentzelopoulos emailed nine confidential and potentially privileged documents from her AHS account to her personal email, breaching her employment contract and common law obligations. In response, the Crown sought an emergency interlocutory injunction to compel the return and deletion of the documents and to prevent their further use. The government also applied to question Mentzelopoulos under oath to determine what records were taken and whether any had been shared.
Complicating the case are ongoing investigations by both the Auditor General and the RCMP. The auditor general, exercising statutory powers, has requested that Mentzelopoulos provide documents relevant to its investigation. The court ruled that while the defendants may question her under Alberta’s Rules of Court about what she took and shared, she cannot be questioned about what was disclosed to the auditor general or law enforcement, in order to protect the integrity of those probes.
The litigation remains in its early stages. A full hearing on the injunctions has been postponed until questioning is completed and privilege issues are resolved.
As part of its limited intervention, the auditor general must submit a written factum of no more than 10 pages by May 27, 2025. The Crown may file a five-page reply by May 29. If oral submissions are permitted, they will be limited to 15 minutes.
The intervention application was heard May 22 in Edmonton, with oral reasons delivered the following day. Any cost-related matters will be addressed at the main appeal hearing.
