2 weeks Ago By Ricky Leong
After Alberta’s finance minister revealed he had attended a pair of Oilers playoffs games in a luxury box as a guest of a health-care firm, other ministries are mum about whether other members of cabinet did the same. Last month, Postmedia after emailing the press secretaries of all 24 government ministries asking if their minister attended any of those playoff matchups and, if so, how many games and how those tickets were obtained. Postmedia repeated that survey Thursday and again received no replies.
Two sources who work in government told Postmedia independent of each other that press secretaries have been instructed not to answer media requests on the topic and defer all communications to the premier’s office. Reporters have been seeking answers to questions about how many cabinet ministers attended how many playoff games in luxury boxes after reported several ministers and staff did so in the suite of MHCare, the company selected by the government to import its of children’s pain medication . The medication expires in January of 2026 but Alberta Health Services has said it’s still considering its options for the supply.
It arrived too late for the shortage it was intended to address, and within six months due to concerns over its weaker concentration and thicker consistency that could clog feeding tubes. The premier’s office did not respond to a request for comment Friday morning. MHCare did not respond to a request for comment.
On the July 27 edition of Premier Danielle Smith’s call-in radio show, host Wayne Nelson asked her directly if a gag order had been put in place on playoff ticket queries from media. Smith didn’t directly answer Nelson’s question, and instead talked about the three games she attended in Edmonton and Vancouver that were at the invite of Explore Edmonton, the Oilers, and Invest Alberta. Smith had earlier suggested reporters contact individual ministers about their attendance, though such requests have been repeatedly ignored.
Some cabinet ministers have shared details about playoff games they attended when asked in person. Finance Minister Nate Horner was the latest to do so on Thursday. He told reporters he attended one game of the Oilers first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, and one game of the Western Conference final against the Dallas Stars, with both games viewed from the box of MHCare.
Horner said he followed conflict of interest regulations, which the government updated on Dec. 22, 2023, to allow MLAs to accept higher-value gifts. “It was all within the rules and will be disclosed on my ethics commissioner statement,” Horner said, when asked about ministers’ attendance at games last month.
The revised guidelines cap non-monetary gifts and tickets at a maximum of $500. They also allow the premier’s chief of staff Marshall Smith — who invited Conservative MP Erin O’Toole to MHCare’s box for a game during the 2023 NHL playoffs — to approve any gift worth more than that for staff and over $1,000 for an event, conference or meeting. Smith has said the prior version of ethics rules limited government officials from representing the province at major events.
Horner refused to say what other ministers were also at the two games he attended. When asked why the government ministers and staff don’t pay for their own tickets, Horner replied, “it’s a fair point.” Horner is among some of cabinet’s most senior members who have said they attended playoff games.
Former deputy premier and current Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf told the Globe and Mail he also attended a game in the box of MHCare. Like Horner, he declined to disclose who else was at the game. Current Deputy Premier and Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said at a press conference he attended one game at the invite of the Oilers.
And, Tourism and Sport Minister Joseph Schow said in a media scrum that he attended one game but wouldn’t say who paid for the ticket. In a statement, Alberta New Democratic Party leader Naheed Nenshi called on the premier to “come clean.” “If this is all above board, then the government would disclose it freely.
If they have followed their own rules, then there should be no issue with publishing a list of all ministers and staff who accepted these gifts,” he said..
