How the UCP is costing Albertans Billions of $$$
An Update
THE UCP IS COSTING ALBERTANS BILLIONS OF $$$$
We thought it was time to repost this with the Town Halls coming up. We have added some updates at the end.
General
Railroad Contract to get oil to Texas - $2.1 Billion
Keystone XL Pipeline - $1.3 Billion
*Alberta's ban on renewables carried a heavy price | Calgary Herald $33 billion
UNFOIPABLE - The Energy War Room - brought back under the Government. Initial funding of $30 million in 2020 dropped to $2.84 million and allegedly $12 million/per year since 2021. So $56.84 million of your money.
Andrew Leach observed, “You’d have been forgiven for wondering if the sole mission of the [the war room] was to make every other government expenditure seem like a bargain.”
Sturgeon Refinery to bail out - $825 Million
UCP Ad Campaign Blaming the Feds for High Electricity Prices - $8 million
UCP Ad Campaign: What's really behind Alberta's 'scrap the cap' ads? Targeting the federal government’s incoming emissions cap for the oil and gas sector - $7 million
Dubai Trip $46,429.46 just for hotel rooms. $170,000.00 = $216,429.46
General Total: $37,297,056,429.46
Education/$ is not funding public education.
Education - private schools/modulars, etc. 2024-25 Total - $832 million ($705 million)
Private Schools Funding in Alberta: Scaling-Up Privatization $314 million 2022
Private Schools Funding in Alberta: Alberta pays the most, at 70% of what public schools get.
Smith offers schools peace, but the radicals won’t have it - Parents for Choice in Education.
UCP 2023 Pre-Election Budget Prioritizes Private and Charter Schools - Support Our Students
Clarifying the UCP’s new K–12 spending
$125 million increase to be shared by all school authorities
$90 million to procure 100 portables.
Budget 2024 sets up stealth cuts to K-12 and post-secondary education
$408 million for private schools and accredited childcare centers
$80 million is going immediately towards expanding the infrastructure for specialized programming at publicly funded but privately operated charter schools and collegiate schools, both of which can turn away students, with another $22 million in each of 2025 and 2026 for a total of $124 million.
Meanwhile, $50 million will be spent on acquiring modular, or portable, classrooms for schools that are overcapacity, with funding reaching $103 million over three years.
Alberta solidifies funding for new schools | CityNews Calgary March 1, 2024
$381million for 43 priority projects = each project gets $1,883,720
Education Curriculum - Education $64.4 Million Conservative/NDP 2016 curriculum
UCP Curriculum Development over 4 years $64 million, no teachers involved
Charter schools - $171 million over 3 years.
(Foundations for the Future Academy - Charter School) $118 Million - Rajan Sawhney’s Daughter is on the board.
Province announces 2,000 student spaces at new charter school hub | Calgary Herald
Foundations for the Future Charter School $43 million to build. FFTF Academy got $37,352,914 in operational funding for 2023/24.
Foundations for the Future Charter Academy Charter School Society Projected Operational Funding - as of July 2024 (funding document)
Alberta Public School closed, parents opening a Charter school in its place
Testing for learning loss K-6
It will start in Grade 1 in September and go to Grade 3. Retesting in January, when Kindergarten will join in. Kindergarten is not a mandatory program in Alberta
Literacy testing - 10 mins per student, 2 test phonemes and sight words
Numeracy testing - 20- 30 mins per student (three tests administered, one one-on-one). The new testing regimen means first- and second-grade teachers will spend the whole month of September doing the individual tests mandated by the provincial government. A month of teaching was lost.
Cost: $10 million allocated for learning disruption support - https:www.reddeeradvocate.com/local-news/alberta-announces-more-testing-for-elementary-school-students-7441287
Here is the funding manual - Funding Manual for School Authorities 2023/24 School Year | Open Government
Charter schools receive 100% funding per student, as well as building allocations
Private schools have been changed to Independent Schools - they receive 70%/student allocation, as well as building the Islamic School in Edmonton raised $20 million to build a new school. The Alberta Government is putting in $60 million
Canceled ADLC
Savings of $14 million for the government but irreparable damage to distance education, all to give $$ to private and homeschooling associations. The curriculum and materials were available to all Alberta school boards.
Education Total: $1,620,400,000.00
FSCD Funding Cuts
Staff cuts will affect hundreds of families of kids with disabilities, parents say - St. Albert News
Post Secondary Education Cuts
Secondary Education. - According to data from Higher Education Strategy Associates, provincial funding cuts to postsecondary education totalled more than half a billion dollars between 2019 and 2023, a staggering 31 percent cut over the last five years. $500,000,000 UCP's Latest Budget Continues Their War on Students
Budget 2024 Indirectly Cuts Post-Secondary, Leaves Student Talent on the Table – Students' Union, UCalgary - On the whole, Alberta’s 2024 budget has cut per-capita spending on post-secondary funding by 7.3%
Bill 18 positions the Alberta government as the gatekeeper of federal research funding - University Affairs - Bill 18 positions the Alberta government as the gatekeeper of federal research funding — University Affairs
Post Secondary Education Total: $500,000,000
Health Care
Turkish Tylenol - $80 million - $49 million is being held by MH Care, and they get to collect the interest on it. ($100 million if you include transportation, storage, and disposal fees) over $5,000/bottle delivered.
Sole Source contract MHCare
Poor Quality PPE in Sole Source Contract Group of Alberta doctors writes open letter about 'substandard', 'inadequate' PPE masks - MHCare got paid $228 million to provide masks, gowns, and thermometers during COVID. Most of the
supplies were made in China and there were some pretty significant quality control issues. (total given in single source MH Care contracts $614 million)
Cost to return Dynalife to AHS - $31.5 Million plus $65.5 Million in liabilities - $97 million
Telus Babylon - Commissioner investigation Reports 021
Telus virtual health-care app touted by Alberta government sparks outcry from physicians | CBC News - Alberta is to pay $38/doctor Per Visit on Telus Health. Also known as Lifeworks. Operating in BC
Babylon Was Going to Transform Alberta Health Care. Now It’s Bankrupt | The Tyee
Telus, Alberta partner to launch virtual doctor services to supplement provincial healthcare system | BetaKit - Telus, Alberta partner to launch virtual doctor services to supplement provincial healthcare system | BetaKit.
The new two-tier medicine: real physicians for the rich, an Internet app for the rest of us? - Alberta Politics - The new two-tier medicine: real physicians for the rich, an Internet app for the rest of us? - Alberta Politics
Alberta doctors ‘beyond frustrated’ with virtual care app amid coronavirus crisis | Globalnews.ca - Contract worth $1.5 million. As well, doctors with Babylon were getting $38/call while family doctors in Alberta were getting $20/call. They eventually agreed to give both Telehealth and family doctors. $38/call
Alberta Sunshine list shows taxpayers paid millions to fire top AHS brass in 2022 $3.62 million
Alberta government mothballing south Edmonton hospital's 'senseless': health advocates - Hospitals/Covid Response - $69 million to cancel the SE hospital
Cancellation of SuperLab - $35 million
Preston Manning and the Covid Committee chairing the Covid-19 committee - $2 million total for the committee
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-investigation-contentment-social-services-motel-medicine $25,000 paid from Social Services to cover Contentment Care Hotel bill
Alberta ministries didn't provide a clear picture of how $4B was spent on COVID-19, audit reveals | CBC News - $4 billion from COVID funding is not accounted for in Alberta.
Severance Payments Under Premier Danielle Smith’s Dismissals of AHS BOARDS = $13,120,000.00 (Information courtesy of Aly Janes from X)
Since assuming office in 2022, Premier Smith has overseen two dismissals of the entire AHS board of directors, alongside repeated terminations of CEOs and senior executives. These actions are framed as part of a broader restructuring effort to decentralize AHS into four service delivery organizations. However, the instability has diverted resources from frontline healthcare needs while failing to address systemic issues like surgical wait times and staffing shortages.
Fiscal Year 2022–2023: $3.62 Million in Severance
In 2022, the first full year of Smith’s premiership, AHS paid **$3.62 million in severance** to 23 executives, directors, and managers, including those associated with the initial dismissal of the 11-member AHS board.
Key payouts included:
**Dr. Verna Yiu (Former AHS CEO)**: Received $660,000 after being terminated a year before her contract expired.
**Dr. Deena Hinshaw (Former Chief Medical Officer)**: Ousted in November 2022, with a severance entitlement exceeding $181,000.
This period also saw the termination of the AHS board, though the exact portion of the $3.62 million allocated to board members remains unspecified.
Fiscal Year 2023–2024: $9.5 Million in Severance
By the following fiscal year, severance obligations ballooned to **$9.5 million**, covering 33 terminated AHS employees, including seven senior executives dismissed in late 2023
Notable payments included:
**Mauro Chies (Former AHS President and CEO)**: Terminated in November 2023 with a severance package worth **$1.38 million**, covering salary through November 2025
**Dr. François Bélanger (Former Vice-President of Quality)**: Received **$1.07 million**
Fiscal Year 2024–2025: Mounting Legal Claims
The January 2025 firing of CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos and the AHS board has triggered further liabilities.
Estimates put the severance of the 2025 board (without Mentzelopoulos) at $9.05 million**
Mentzelopoulos filed a **$1.7 million wrongful dismissal lawsuit**, alleging she was terminated for investigating irregularities in private surgical contracts. Her claims suggest political interference in procurement processes, including pressure to approve overpriced agreements with private providers.
The province is expected to pay multiple millions in legal fees.
Structural and Political Implications
Contractual Obligations and Executive Compensation
AHS employment contracts for senior leaders typically guarantee **up to 24 months’ salary** upon termination without cause.
For example: - Mauro Chies’s 2023 salary was $583,443, making his severance package worth approximately **$1.4 million**
- Mentzelopoulos’s lawsuit seeks $1.7 million, reflecting the remaining value of her four-year contract.
These contractual terms, combined with Smith’s rapid leadership changes, have turned severance into a recurring budget line item.
Private Orthopedic Surgery Centers is approximately $400 million over what they would pay through AHS, refusal to fund the Royal Alex Surgical Center to do complicated surgeries. MH Care’s Sam Mraiche is a shareholder in some of the Orthopedic Centers. So, single-source contracts over $1 billion.
AHS has been broken into four different organizations - now make it site-based management. If you think that rural hospital closures were bad before. Buckle up, it’s going to get worse!
Appointed former Deputy Minister of Health as CEO, and two deputy ministers of health were appointed. There is no separation between the government and health care; they are directly responsible for where health care is today.
Fired CEO Athana Menthalopous and the Board in January of 2025.
A wrongful dismissal suit was filed with the courts. The UCP has more than 3 investigations into the matter and has them all reporting back to Smith. The only hope to find out what is going on is to support the court case for Athana.
HealthCare Total: $4,535,814,222.07 new updated total $13,120,000.00 + $4,535,814,222.07 = $4,548,934,222.07 - How many nurses, doctors, and health care workers would $13 million pay for? How much could we give in raises?
APP
LifeWorks Report - $1.8 million for Pension Plan report. There are no names or contact information on the report.
APP Ad Campaign and Jim Dinning-led public engagement panel - $7.5 million
APP Total: $9,300,000.00
Municipal Interference
Unpaid Oil and Gas Municipal Taxes - unpaid rent/taxes to municipalities - $252 million
Sheriffs - $45.3 million
Alberta Government unveils new Sheriffs unit - The Stettler Independent
Alberta police force would cost millions more but could see better service; report | Lethbridge News Now, Kenney 2021
Alberta government to invest $29M into border security patrol unit with sheriffs, drones | Globalnews.ca $29 million
Calgary’s Greenline - $2.2 billion in sunk costs
Winding down of Green Line LRT project 'unfortunate': transportation minister | CTV News. MLAsrta is Calling Campaign - Total $15.1 million
Kenney kicks off campaign to attract skilled workers to Alberta | CBC News Phase 1 - $2.6 million
Alberta is Calling - Campaign Summary - March 2023 Phase 2 - $10 million
The 3rd phase of ‘Alberta is Calling’ is underway, but is the province moving too fast? | Globalnews.ca. Phase 3 - $2.5 million
RStar oil and gas cleanup - $383 million
The provincial government told Edmonton and Calgary to raise their education portion of their municipal taxes - those taxes go to the Provincial government into their general funds coffers, not even to education.
Municipal Interference Total: $2,881,810,000.00
Lobbying/Lawsuits
Cole Schulz, husband of Rebecca Schulz, is lobbying for Oil and Gas Co
Lawsuits launched against the feds/ (10)
Alberta suing feds over carbon tax exemption on home heating oil
Alberta taking Ottawa to court over updated federal impact assessment law | CBC News
Alberta is taking the feds to court for the second time over environmental assessment law
Varcoe: 'Stay in your lane' — After victory against Bill C-69, Alberta emboldened in feud with feds
Alberta wins
AIMCo
Alberta government could be on hook for $1.3-billion - AB Pol Econ - Volt loss
Alberta’s Heritage stage fund hit hard by AIMCo’s bad bet in March, April - The Globe and Mail up to $4 Billion loss
CEO leaving AIMCo in wake of $2.1-billion investment loss | CBC News
AIMCo Total: $10,400,000,000.00
The Total Cost for this list—and it is not comprehensive, just a sampling is $57,244,380,651.53!!!
Still to cost and add
Updates with links:
Updated costs
Dec. 2024
Severance pkgs AHS
Dr. Verna Yiu - $660,000.00
Chies - $1,400,000.00
Mentelopoulos - $583,434.00
Total: $2,943,434.00
More turmoil in Alberta Health Services as latest president and CEO departs | CBC News
January 9, 2025
Caucus increase $1,160,000
Wage increase approx 2.2% per year
Constituency office increase $6,000 X 89 = $534,000 more per year
Transition costs 1 month's salary for each year worked up to 6 months' salary 6 X $120,936 (2024 wage) = $725,616/MLA
Total: $1,694,000 immediately when passed
UCP committee members vote to increase Alberta MLA pay, government caucus funding
Money since Dec. 2024
UCP Caucus - $1,160,000
Office expenses - $534,000 more per year
Severance for 3 AHS CEO’s - $2,943,434
Total: $4,637,434.00
Updated Total: $57,249,018,085.53 - Over $50 Billion!
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Advertising
Counter Signal $116,800/year
Western Standard -
True North - now called JUNO, interviews with Smith, June 26, 2025
Updates
Since January 2025, the UCP has spent 170 days out of Canada and has taken 37 trips. This includes multiple trips to the US and Smith’s trip to Japan.
Executive ministry increased its budget by another $4.6 million in February 2025
Gave themselves a housing allowance increase to $2,200/month. (More than AISH recipients make, and just for housing! They also have expense accounts.)February 2025
Splitting up AHS into 4 areas: Mental Health and Addiction, Primary Care, Assisted Living, and Acute Care, came online in April 2025. Alberta Health is directly under the Provincial Government there is no arm’s length in the decisions being made. From one minister to four ministers, one system of management to four different management models, and local hospital-based leadership. (What could go wrong?)
https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/about/Page11884.aspx
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-hospital-based-leadership-eliminate-ahs-zones
Transferring ownership of hospitals to Alberta Infrastructure (Is this one of many steps in privatizing healthcare?) https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/alberta-transferring-ownership-of-health-care-properties-april-1/
Rolled in Alberta Government Publicity Department to the Executive Branch under direct control of Premier Smith https://globalnews.ca/news/11248084/alberta-government-public-relations/
Created the Alberta Next Panel $2 million. June 2025 (this was to get feedback from Albertans about creating a Provincial Police force, among other things, then went ahead and created a Provincial Police force.)
Funding and establishing an Alberta Police Force in July 2025
Sar Parhar, former Calgary Deputy Police Chief, was named the inaugural police Chief for IAPS. $20 million. (Alberta’s Police Service)
$15 billion to settle coal mining in the Rockies. 2 companies, July 2025
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-coal-montem-atrum-evolve-lawsuits-1.7576254
Total $15,026,600,000.
That's way more than the $8,300,000,000 surplus.
This is without the cost of tearing apart hospitals, surgeries at private clinics, funding the building of charter and private schools, and expenses or trips the UCP has taken.
Updated Total July 4, 2025
$75,271,024,685.53 - is over $75 billion with a “b”.
Do you really trust them with your CPP?
Thank you. I have often thought of compiling a list of what the UCP is costing Albertans.
I can't respect people who don't understand what the Uneducated Clown Party is doing.