‘Trust is broken’: Hinshaw responds to leak of secretly-recorded meetings that show tension over Alberta’s COVID-19 pandemic response

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At the meetings, Hinshaw relayed that she disagreed with some decisions being made by the government’s Emergency Management Cabinet Committee.

According to the CBC, the recordings show Premier Jason Kenney, Health Minister Tyler Shandro and other cabinet ministers sometimes overruled the expert advice of public servants and pushed an early relaunch strategy that appeared to prioritize concerns about the risks of public health orders negatively affecting the economy.

One source, kept anonymous by CBC for fear of losing employment, said after private conversations withHinshaw as recently as this month that her disagreements with cabinet could be described as an “uphill battle.”

Hinshaw has been questioned publicly about which of her specific recommendations have been approved or denied by the UCP government since the beginning of the pandemic – calls that grew louder this week when new restrictions were announced –and has repeatedly said that her role is to advise politicians who then make decisions.

NDP calls for new advisory group

NDP Leader Rachel Notley called for Kenney to establish an independent advisory group of public health and scientific experts to report unfiltered recommendations directly to the public, even if the premier and cabinet are responsible for final decisions.

“I’ve lost count of the number of times he has deflected criticism by hiding behind Dr. Hinshaw’s skirts. The revelations today further amplify the degree to which Jason Kenney has been hiding the truth from Albertans,” said Notley at a Thursday news conference.

“Albertans should know what the evidence is before (the government) when they make those decisions.”

Addressing Hinshaw’s tweets about the leak, Notley said transparency is something that should be protected, and suggested going on a witch hunt for the public servant who leaked the information would only show a government in damage control.

“I would be very saddened and frustrated if the information that we’ve seen come forward, which begs for more transparency… was used as a means to further clamp down on transparency,” she said.

During question period Thursday, Kenney framed the reported conflicts as him seeking more information before making decisions.

“Mr. Speaker, I plead guilty. I have sought evidence and data to inform our challenging public health decisions and ensure that they are taken in a balanced way that maximizes the positive public health impact while minimizing the negative social and economic impacts,” Kenney said.

Shandro went so far as to call the person who made the recordings a “coward” who embarrassed Hinshaw.

Kenney did not directly answer a question about whether he would create the panel being called for by the NDP.

Hinshaw is set to speak at 3:30 p.m.

More to come