Alberta ethics commissioner ends investigation into Dr. Deena Hinshaw's dismissal from Indigenous health job

Alberta's ethics commissioner has ended an investigation into the revocation of Dr. Deena Hinshaw's job offer with an Indigenous health team at Alberta Health Services this summer. 

CBC News has obtained a letter from Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange announcing that she is ending her investigation.

The letter, sent to LaGrange on Dec. 18, specifies that the subject of the investigation was Dr. John Cowell, the former administrator of AHS.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Trussler said it is important for the public to understand that this wasn't an ethics investigation.

"It's just the very narrow confines of the Conflicts of Interest Act to see if there was in any way a private interest of Dr. Cowell involved — and there was always a possibility because they renewed his contract during that period of time," she said.

"I found he didn't make the decision and there was no private interest being furthered."

In the letter sent to LaGrange, Trussler wrote that, "Although he had input on the decision, I found no evidence that Dr. Cowell directed the termination of Dr. Hinshaw's employment. The evidence showed that Dr. Hinshaw's employment was terminated through proper process."

Cowell declined to comment.

Trussler wrote that she also received complaints against Premier Danielle Smith regarding the same matter. 

"However, given the evidence in the investigation of Dr. Cowell, I did not pursue an investigation of the Premier."

Trussler told CBC News this was due to the limited nature of the legislation that defines what she is empowered to investigate.

"[Smith] wouldn't have a private interest, she would only have a political interest, and people don't understand the distinction," she said.

Hinshaw, Alberta's high-profile chief medical officer of health during the COVID-19 pandemic, was let go days before she was to start a new role with the Indigenous Wellness Core, an AHS program focused on Indigenous health care.