Good morning. We investigated a campaign of harassment and intimidation against people who spoke out about an Alberta procurement controversy – more on that below, along with baseball news from both sides of the country. But first:
Today’s headlines
Carney says the Canada Strong Fund will ensure all Canadians reap the rewards of support for major new projects. Rogers Communications is offering buyouts to half its work force. The White House shooting suspect has been charged with attempting to assassinate Trump.
Police execute search warrants at a medical building in relation to the AHS scandal in Edmonton on March 18.
Investigation
Intimidation tactics
My name is Tu Thanh Ha. I am a reporter at The Globe, and I’ve been documenting an unusual situation in Alberta. For several months last year, Globe and Mail journalists and officials who were involved in blowing the whistle about a health care procurement controversy in Alberta have been targeted by a campaign to intimidate, distract and discredit them.
This included covert surveillance, phone spoofing, crude name calling, false rumours and reputational attacks on podcasts and social media, as well as offers of rewards for incriminating tips. The targets included Carrie Tait, a Calgary-based reporter for The Globe, as well as a banker, the former chief executive of Alberta Health Services and a former cabinet minister. What they had in common were their connections to Alberta Health Services. AHS is the public body that provides medical care in the province.
The semi-retired investment banker, Sandy Edmonstone, was a member of the board of AHS. Tait broke several stories about procurement problems at the health authority. Tait first reported in 2024 that cabinet ministers in the government of Premier Danielle Smith had attended hockey games in a private arena suite as guests of an Edmonton company called MHCare Medical. MHCare, which is owned by Sam Mraiche, is one of the vendors contracted by AHS. The health authority has purchased more than $600-million in services and products from companies owned by Mraiche, including a $70-million deal with AHS in 2022 to import children’s painkillers from Turkey.
Tait and her colleagues then reported on the January, 2025, firing of the health authority’s CEO, Athana Mentzelopoulos, and the axing weeks later of the entire AHS board, including Edmonstone. Mentzelopoulos alleged in a wrongful-dismissal suit that she was sacked after she wouldn’t wind down an internal investigation into AHS’s procurement practices. Edmonstone had been a supporter of Mentzelopoulos and encouraged her to take her concerns to the RCMP and the province’s Auditor-General. Alberta’s Infrastructure Minister, Peter Guthrie, resigned from cabinet in protest of the way the government had handled the controversy.
In the wake of those developments, a pair of podcasters began to attack Tait, Edmonstone, Mentzelopoulos, Guthrie and other critics of AHS, MHCare and the government’s procurement policies.
The two podcasters weren’t ordinary trolls. They said they were somehow privy to very specific details about the controversy and the people they targeted. One of the podcasters, David Wallace, is, by his own account, a former political fixer and dirty-tricks operator for hire.
Podcaster David Wallace with Tyler Argue at the United Conservative Party AGM in Edmonton, on Nov. 29, 2025.
Then in July, an anonymous X account posted surveillance photos, revealing that someone had been stalking Tait. Both The Globe and Edmonstone have taken steps, including legal action, to identify who was behind the campaign. Both of their findings pointed to MHCare. I spoke with the head of a private investigations firm. He told me that Wallace had hired him and told him that they were working for Mraiche, the owner of MHCare.
At the same time, Edmonstone obtained an Anton Piller order, an extraordinary court-approved measure authorizing him to seize the podcasters’ electronic records to find out who was directing them. Edmonstone hired his own private investigators and, thanks to a clue from an old podcast, they located Wallace’s home address. Court documents in Edmonstone’s judicial action allege that Wallace was working for an Edmonton-area lawyer named Bryan Ward – who in the past has represented Mraiche.
In response to questions from The Globe, a lawyer for MHCare said that the company had never undertaken or endorsed any “unlawful or unethical” conduct. “Many competing claims have been made in the public arena that have yet to be subject to proper challenge or judicial scrutiny. We would therefore caution against accepting any such assertions at face value,” Scott Hutchison, a Toronto lawyer, said on behalf of MHCare.
Last Friday, The Globe’s reporting on this issue contributed to three National Newspaper Awards, with wins in the politics and investigation categories, and Tait being named journalist of the year.
The electronic records of the podcasters currently remain in the custody of the independent solicitors until the courts decide whether Edmonstone has grounds to access that information.
Wallace and the other podcaster, James Di Fiore, have asked a judge in Edmonton to revoke the Anton Piller order and keep their records private. Justice Michael Lema will hear their application tomorrow.
The Shot
Chase the ACE
ACE poses for a photo with Blue Jays fans as he waits for his next segment in the 7th inning at the Rogers Centre on April 12. As the Blue Jays celebrate their 50th season, their mascot takes The Globe behind the scenes on a mission of cheer. But baseball news isn’t just coming out of Toronto: On the other side of the country, the group behind Vancouver’s MLB bid is credible and connected enough to give Canada a second pro franchise.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: Last year, Ontario courts denied bail to a record number of people accused of crimes – more than a 20-per-cent increase from 2024 and about double the level of 2023. Abroad: Russia’s Vladimir Putin hails “brave” North Korean troops, as Kim Jong Un opens a memorial in Pyongyang for those killed in the Ukraine war.
Stay tuned: Today, the British Parliament will vote on a possible inquiry into Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s appointment of former U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson.
Tune: Avi Lewis says the NDP will fight to hold the seat of the last Quebec MP in an inevitable by-election.
Sing: Tragically Hip, Feist, Roch Voisine and Loverboy are to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
