Braden Manns, MD, MSc, FRCPC

June 11, 2023

Dear Dr Cowell:

CC:

Mauro Chies, CEO

Colleen Purdy, VP, Corporate Services and CFO

Colleen Turner; VP Communications and Engagement

Deb Gordon; Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Clinical Operations
Clinical Operations, and Primary Care

Francois Belanger; VP Quality and Chief Medical Officer

Ronda White; Chief Audit Executive, Internal Audit

Sean Chilton; VP, VP People, Health Professions and Information Technology

Sid Viner; VP and Medical Director, Clinical Operations

Karen Horon; Acting VP, Cancer Care Alberta and Clinical Support Services

Kerry Bales; Chief Program Officer, Addiction and Mental Health

Peter Jamieson; Interim Associate Medical Director, Clinical Operations

Re: Letter of Resignation

Effective immediately, I am writing to resign from my Interim VP role which started June 4, 2022 and
has been extended on two subsequent occasions.
This has been an incredibly hard decision for me, as I have been proud to be an AHS leader, and there
is so much good work being done within AHS.
However, circumstances that have occurred since June 1, 2023 have made it impossible for me to
continue in good conscience.
I am resigning because the Premier of Alberta, and/or her office or others in the Government of
Alberta directed you to rescind an offer of employment made to Dr. Deena Hinshaw after a
comprehensive search process.
As you know, Dr. Hinshaw applied for a posted AHS position, the Public Health and Preventative
Medicine Lead, for the Indigenous Wellness Core.
The role of the Public Health and Preventative Medical Lead, Indigenous Wellness Core is to develop
strategies to improve the health and well-being of Indigenous people in Alberta through health
promotion, disease and injury prevention, and health protection to achieve the goals detailed in the
Indigenous Health Commitments: Roadmap to Wellness.
This important role involves working collaboratively with AHS operational and medical leads in the
Indigenous Wellness Core and Population & Public Health to provide high quality, innovative, and
efficient health services to Indigenous individuals and communities. Successful collaboration is
achieved by engaging and collaborating with Indigenous communities, promoting a culture of safety,
advocating for high quality care, and representing the Indigenous Wellness Core to ensure that
Indigenous voices are heard. This role advocates for and participates in the development and
evaluation of interventions at the population level to address and improve Indigenous Health
outcomes.

As with all AHS medical leadership positions, a Search and Selection process was established to
ensure equitable hiring practices in line with AHS standards.

There were seven individuals on the search and selection panel, balancing diversity in gender and
ethnicity and including the provincial leads of the Indigenous Wellness Core. The Chair of the Search
and Selection Committee was Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, the Senior Medical Director for the Indigenous
Wellness Core, who is very well known and respected for her leadership in the area of Indigenous
Health.

The Public Health and Preventative Medicine Lead, Indigenous Wellness Core position was posted in
January 2023.

Several individuals applied, and a few were short-listed by the Search and Selection Committee for
interviews.

Dr. Hinshaw (former Chief Medical Officer of Health for Alberta Health) was one of these individuals.

After completing interviews, and after a comprehensive discussion of the candidates, the Search and
Selection Committee made an independent recommendation to hire Dr. Hinshaw.

This recommendation was made because Dr. Hinshaw had significantly more experience in public
health and preventive medicine when compared with the other candidates. It was also noted that she
had substantially more experience in systems thinking, required for this position.

Critically, she is known to have excellent relationships with Indigenous communities and Chiefs.
You will recall that you and I spoke by telephone on March 9, 2023 and my notes of that discussion
are attached to this letter. At that time, you advised me that after careful deliberation and
discussion, you approved moving forward with Dr. Hinshaw’s hire, as long as the start date, and any
announcements were delayed until after May 29.

With your confirmation, and with the confirmation of the CEO, I provided direction to the Senior
Medical Director of the Indigenous Wellness Core to offer the position to Dr. Hinshaw, with the
starting date of June 1 or after. Dr. Hinshaw accepted the offer and was scheduled to commence
work on June 5, 2023.

On June 1, 2023 the memorandum regarding the hiring of Dr. Hinshaw was sent out by the Indigenous
Wellness Core. This memorandum was sent to AHS Leadership, including within the Indigenous
Wellness core, and to AHS Medical Officers of Health.

Very shortly thereafter, I was advised by the CEO that you now wished to place a hold on Dr.
Hinshaw’s contract.

On the same day (June the 1st) I spoke with you in person in the hallway, on our own, at Southport
AHS offices. You told me the hiring of Dr Hinshaw is a “major problem”. I reminded you of our
discussion on March 9. You responded that you would speak with the Premier. While we were
talking, the Premier called you directly.

After your call with the Premier, you and I participated in a group meeting. In that meeting, you
stated that the Premier is firm that there can be no hiring of Dr. Hinshaw. In response, I expressed
my concern that the Premier was reaching down four levels into AHS and instructing us to rescind an
approved contract after a comprehensive Search and Selection Committee process. I advised you
that I will have to step down if we were not able to find a solution. There is a clear issue of trust with
Indigenous leaders which is being betrayed this decision.

On June 1, after our group meeting, you and I spoke again privately in the hallway and you said that
you would reach out to Marshall Smith, the Premier’s Chief of Staff, as you felt that he could change
the Premier’s mind about the rescinding of the contract awarded to Dr Hinshaw.

At 2 p.m. on Friday June 2, 2023, I was advised that your direction is clear and that I was instructed to
rescind the contract awarded to Dr. Hinshaw.

In a subsequent private conversation with the CEO, I reiterated my concern that the Premier was
reaching down four levels into AHS and instructing us to rescind an approved contract after a
comprehensive Search and Selection Committee process.

At the end of the day, it is incumbent on me as an (Interim) Executive at AHS to protect the people
that work for me, including the careful and deliberate work of the Search and Selection Committee
Panel. I was unable to do that in this case.
This is particularly troublesome to me because this position is meant to work with Indigenous
communities to improve Indigenous health outcomes. As you know, the life expectancy for
Indigenous people in Alberta is 17 years lower than for non-Indigenous people. There are many
factors leading to this, including social determinants of health, public-health related issues (Opioid
epidemic; high rates of suicide; high rates of diabetes) and issues stemming from colonialism. AHS
and other stakeholders including the Government of Alberta and the Federal government must
support Indigenous communities as they identify and implement strategies to improve health
outcomes. We know that Indigenous people often come from a place of not trusting authorities,
including those within AHS.
The decision implemented by you to rescind Dr Hinshaw’s contract after what I understand to be your
personal discussions with the Premier, her Chief of Staff and others in the government of Alberta, will
have a long-lasting effect on our ability to have trusting relationships with our Indigenous leaders and
communities.
This type of political interference in hiring should not be permitted.
Staff and physician morale is at an all-time low within AHS. Direct political interference with this
search process will further erode the trust that is needed between the Government of Alberta, AHS,
and its staff and physicians. This trust is critical to AHS’ ability to function effectively, and to recruit
and retain staff and physicians in Alberta.
As instructed, I did not tell Dr. Tailfeathers anything about the circumstances under which Dr.
Hinshaw’s contract of employment was rescinded. Dr. Tailfeathers has told me that she feels that
she has no choice but to resign. I believe, and I am sure many others believe, that Dr. Tailfeathers’
resignation will be a significant loss for AHS.
I hope that my resignation will draw the attention of leadership within the Government of Alberta
that this type of political interference is unacceptable. I am copying my colleagues on the Executive
Leadership team so that they can understand my rationale for this difficult decision.
In closing, I would like to express my utmost respect for our CEO and the Executive Leadership Team
– they each do an incredible job leading AHS. There are many challenges for health systems across
Canada and internationally presently, but as an integrated provincial health system, AHS has
weathered the challenges better than others. We need to move forward and in the spirit of improving
health outcomes for Albertans, we must build on the integrated provincial health system that we
have to ensure a sustainable health care system.

Sincerely,

Braden Manns MD, MSc FRCPC

Minutes – Conversation with Dr Cowell March 9, 2023;

Discussion points:
Deena Hinshaw – Public medicine and prevention role
- Dr Cowell clear he could block HR decisions, but he is trying not to do this
- After full review of the position itself, he is fully supportive of the role and sees the
value – huge need in Indigenous communities
- He is aware that there are sensitivities with respect to Deena but understood that she
had been a very good employee
- We discussed that neither of us would want to put Deena into the spotlight again or put
undue attention on her from the media
- In this spirit, we can move ahead with pursuing a contract with Deena, but we will delay
the announcement and start date to June 1
o Can have some informal planning meetings before then