Unpaid Subcontractors for Recovery Centres Say UCP Abandoned Them

The Tyee’s Charles Rusnell follows up on the fallout from CorruptCare’s expansion into the Recovery Centres.

Subcontractors, who have not been paid for months, are blaming the government of Premier Danielle Smith for first failing to provide oversight on more than $100 million of taxpayers’ money and then failing to help resolve the impasse as they struggle to survive.

“This will probably bankrupt us if I don’t get paid,” said one Edmonton subcontractor who hasn’t been paid in more than two months. “I’m about a million dollars out so that is a pretty heavy hit.”

Another Edmonton subcontractor told The Tyee she has been owed more than $500,000 since July 2025.

“This shows to me that the government doesn’t have our back, that we can’t trust the government.

“We can’t trust them with our taxpayers’ money. We can’t trust them on a government-funded project.”

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“Nobody told us anything, and we were just told, ‘Don’t worry, you will get paid,’” said the Métis Nation subcontractor.

“So we kept working. The only reason we finally went off site is because we weren’t believing the bullshit anymore.”

She said it wasn’t until she read The Tyee story that she understood what was going on.

“When I read it, then it became crystal clear to me what the problems were. I was like, ‘OK that is why we haven’t been paid.’ And I was thinking, ‘That is why everyone has been stonewalling me and not telling the truth.’

“None of us subtrades would have known any of this unless we had read your article.”

Accusations Fly in Newly Surfaced Legal Fight Involving Sam Mraiche

Canadians may be witnessing one of the greatest corruption scandals to rock a province in generations. From the mind boggling dollar figures, to the depth of the group alleged behind the corruption, the scandal touches every man, woman, and child of Alberta.

CorruptCare originally referred to allegations of a cluster of procurement contracts involving AHS and a number of UCP members in relation to Tylenot, bad PPE, and some suspicious bids for chartered surgical facilities. And, now, the scandal continues to expand to construction contracts in relation to the recovery centres at the heart of the UCP’s forced treatment programming (that I dub Residential Schools 2.0).

The Tyee’s Charles Rusnell brings us the deep dive into the allegations between the Semashkewiches, Sam Mraiche, Sam Jaber, Jitendra Prasad, Mike Eldassouki, Aaron Barner, and others. As always, the article itself deserves a read, and I’ll leave some highlights below.

His involvement, Mraiche said, was simply as an informal adviser to his brother-in-law and he had no relationship with Semashkewich nor any involvement in any of the projects.

“Over the years, Mraiche, as a business owner, would regularly provide his brother-in-law, Eldassouki, with casual, unofficial, and informal business advice,” his statement of defence says.

Mraiche said he was not the controlling mind of Melewka Construction and he had no authority, legal or otherwise, to make decisions on behalf of his brother-in-law or his company.

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Eldassouki allegedly told Semashkewich he wanted to set up a distinct corporate entity from Melewka Homes that would be the general contractor for projects with Melewka Homes being its subcontractor. Semashkewich said he declined the proposal.

Semashkewich alleges that without his knowledge or consent, Eldassouki incorporated Melewka Construction on Nov. 3, 2022.

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Shortly after Eldassouki set up Melewka Construction, the amended counterclaim states, Faour introduced Semashkewich to “Fred,” who “advised that he controlled how much Melewka Homes would get paid from the projects, had connections, and that he could pull the projects at any time.”

“It was made apparent to [Semashkewich] that ‘Fred’ had considerable control over the projects, the government officials behind them, and could interfere with Melewka Homes’ contractual relationship with those entities,” the amended counterclaim states.

“[Semashkewich] later discovered that ‘Fred’ was actually Mraiche, and that Eldassouki was Mraiche’s brother-in-law. Eldassouki frequently copied Mraiche on internal Melewka Construction correspondences and sought Mraiche’s approval for material decisions.”

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Between late 2023 and early 2024 Melewka Homes through Melewka Construction entered into negotiations to design and build three recovery centres — one each for the Métis Nation of Alberta and the Enoch and Tsuut’ina First Nations.

These recovery centres were to be entirely funded with grants from the Alberta government. The MNA and Tsuut’ina projects would each cost about $36.5 million including GST while the Enoch project cost about $31.5 million for a total of about $104.5 million.

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There was another alleged meeting on May 3, 2024, held by Mraiche at the offices of MHCare involving Semashkewich and his son John, Eldassouki and Ward.

“The meeting was very heated with Mraiche demanding an exorbitant amount of money,” the amended counterclaim states.

“Further, Mraiche wanted the money paid at once in upfront payments from the 60 per cent or 50 per cent in pre-construction payments…. [Semashkewich] said this could not happen as this would amount to fraud since these funds would not be directed toward construction,” the amended counterclaim states.

This is when Mraiche is alleged to have again claimed he had the government connections to pull all of Melewka Homes’ projects and called Alberta Health Services procurement chief Jitendra Prasad and put him on speaker phone.

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Lawyer Bryan Ward, who has also acted for Mraiche, denies every allegation and denies he was in a conflict of interest or breached his fiduciary duty. He also denies he was acting on instructions from Mraiche, and that he delayed the release of trust funds.

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In January, the Globe and Mail revealed Ward had allegedly hired a podcaster and a self-described political hit man who had allegedly harassed former Alberta Health Services director Sandy Edmonstone, former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopolous and Globe reporter Carrie Tait.

Edmonstone, who alleges he was surveilled and surreptitiously photographed, has sought a contempt order against Ward.

Accounting firm owned by Smith government appointee searched by RCMP

https://archive.is/sm0Im

Globe and Mail’s Carrie Tait, Tom Cardoso, Matthew Scace, and Jana G. Pruden, and Alanna Smith, with the latest updates on the RCMP conducting searches of properties associated with Sam Jaber, Jitendra Prasad, and Sam Mraiche.

A marked RCMP vehicle was parked in front of Jaberson & Associates, a tax preparation and accounting firm owned by Sam Jaber. In November, 2023, Ms. Smith appointed him to the board of Invest Alberta, which focuses on attracting capital investment to the province.

Mr. Jaber has also served as the chief financial officer of MHCare Medical Corp., a private company owned by Sam Mraiche, a businessman at the centre of the province’s procurement controversy.

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On Thursday, a Globe reporter spoke with a neighbour of Jitendra Prasad, one of the former Alberta Health Service procurement officials who was part of Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s probe.

The neighbour told The Globe that RCMP officers had attended at Mr. Prasad’s home throughout the day on Tuesday.

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Mr. Jaber owns two tax and accounting businesses, corporate records show – Jaberson & Associates and Tax Pros, both based in Edmonton.

Corporate filings show that Mr. Jaber and his accounting businesses have acted as registering agents for several of Mr. Mraiche’s business ventures.

Mr. Jaber was appointed to Invest Alberta’s board at the behest of the Premier’s Office, according to records obtained by The Globe through an access to information request.

In a series of e-mails, government staff discuss Mr. Jaber’s potential appointment. In an e-mail dated Oct. 26, 2023, one official wrote that the Premier’s Office “has indicated this is a priority for immediate action.” Mr. Jaber was appointed to the board by an order-in-council signed by the Premier four weeks later. His term is set to expire next January.

Invest Alberta declined to comment.

The Premier in the summer of 2024 confirmed that Jaberson & Associates furnished her office with tickets to watch the Edmonton Oilers play the Vancouver Canucks in British Columbia during the NHL playoffs that year. Mr. Mraiche joined Ms. Smith in a box suite to watch the game, a photo taken by The Canadian Press shows.

Smith defends government after RCMP executes search warrants in health care procurement probe

https://archive.is/r85Ok

Globe and Mail’s Carrie Tait, Matthew Scace, and Tom Cardoso, with the latest in the CorruptCare scandal, with the RCMP pushing further in their investigation.

The article deserves a read, and highlights included here.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith defended her government on Thursday during her first appearance in the legislature since police executed search warrants as part of their criminal investigation into the province’s health care procurement controversy.

The RCMP this week searched the head office of MHCare Medical Corp., one of the government suppliers at the centre of the controversy.

The company, which has received $600-million in contracts from Alberta Health Services, is owned by Edmonton businessman Sam Mraiche. Mr. Mraiche had ties with Ms. Smith and members of her government, as well as public servants at Alberta’s health authority.

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During Question Period at the Alberta Legislature on Thursday, Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi highlighted the relationship between the government and Mr. Mraiche, who played host to cabinet ministers and political officials in a box suite during Edmonton Oilers games.

“It is the biggest government scandal in Alberta history,” Mr. Nenshi said. He noted that the RCMP searches are now in their third day.

Alberta construction company alleges Sam Mraiche played hidden role in building of addiction sites

https://archive.is/ztn4Y

Globe and Mail’s Tom Cardoso and Carrie Tait give us the deep dive on the latest in the CorruptCare scandal, revealing allegations that Sam Mraiche continued to use his connections to the UCP to shake down other businesses for payments in exchange for government contracts.

Here, the allegations take us to Melewka Homes Ltd, owned by Lewis Semashkewich and John Semashkewich. The pair did business with a Mohamed Eldassouki. Plot twist: Eldassouki apparently is the brother-in-law of the perpetual protagonist of capitalism, Sam Mraiche. The Semashkewiches go on to allege that Mraiche introduced himself as Fred, and suggested that he had connections with high ranked officials, and he could pull contracts awarded to Melweka at any time. Fred went on to make demands for large sums of money.

Unfortunately, some of these contracts appear to involve the Addiction Recovery Centres that were once handled by AHS. But, since AHS may have been shattered into pieces for allegedly investigating the CorruptCare cluster of contracts, it has since been replaced by Recovery Alberta in 2024. At this point, it beggars belief that the UCP, Danielle Smith, and her caucus do not either resign or at least take steps to mitigate what is clearly an out-of-control conflicts of interest.

As always, the article deserves a read, and I’ll include some highlights here. You will see that some recurring characters return to the stage, including Jitendra Prasad, and Bryan Ward.

The Semashkewiches and Mr. Eldassouki began working together in 2022, according to court records, under an arrangement in which Mr. Eldassouki would help identify projects for the Semashkewiches’ business.

Not long after that, the Semashkewiches claim in the lawsuit they were introduced to a man named Fred, who told Lewis Semashkewich he would control Melewka Homes’ payments on projects identified by Mr. Eldassouki and could put an end to them at any time. In their court submissions, the Semashkewiches said it was “made apparent” to them that Fred had “considerable control” over the construction work and the government officials behind them.

According to the Semashkewiches’ court filings, they later learned that Fred was, in fact, Sam Mraiche. In addition to being Mr. Mraiche’s brother-in-law, Mr. Eldassouki has served as a senior executive at two of Mr. Mraiche’s companies, including MHCare.

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The Semashkewiches’ deal with Mr. Eldassouki soon led to new business, the counterclaim shows. After being selected to build two apartment complexes for the Métis Nation of Alberta in 2023, in early 2024 the contractor was tapped to build recovery centres in the three Indigenous communities.

But the arrangement between the two companies would ultimately become strained as the contractor allegedly faced demands for money from Mr. Mraiche and Mr. Eldassouki on its construction projects, according to the Semashkewiches’ claim.

During one phone call between Lewis Semashkewich and Mr. Mraiche, the latter told Mr. Semashkewich he had the government connections necessary to “pull” Melewka Homes’ projects and indicated he had ties to a senior executive at the Métis Nation, a man named Aaron Barner, the Semashkewiches’ claim alleges. “I own Barner and he will do what I say,” Mr. Mraiche is alleged to have said.

After that conversation, Mr. Barner allegedly told Mr. Semashkewich that meetings between the Métis Nation and Melewka Homes were cancelled until further notice, effectively pausing the project. According to the Semashkewiches’ submission, work only resumed after Mr. Semashkewich authorized the release of funds to Mr. Eldassouki. In his court submissions, Mr. Eldassouki denies exerting pressure on the Semashkewiches or making improper requests for payment.

Mr. Barner, for his part, says in a statement of defence that he asked that the Semashkewiches cease contact in response to “repeated and improper communications” between Melewka Homes and Métis Nation personnel. Mr. Barner also denies he is a business associate of Mr. Mraiche and Mr. Eldassouki, and says he did not act on anyone’s instruction. A lawyer for Mr. Barner did not comment.

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During another meeting, this time at MHCare’s offices, Mr. Mraiche allegedly demanded an “exorbitant amount of money” and threatened to use his connections to cancel Melewka Homes’ projects, the Semashkewiches claim in their lawsuit. To demonstrate his influence, Mr. Mraiche allegedly called “his friend J.P.,” an Alberta government insider, and put him on speakerphone. According to the Semashkewiches’ submission, Lewis Semashkewich understands this man to be Jitendra Prasad, who was then a senior procurement official for the Alberta government. Last year, The Globe documented Mr. Prasad’s involvement in the Alberta Health Services procurement controversy and his ties to Mr. Mraiche. A lawyer for Mr. Prasad did not respond to The Globe’s requests for comment.

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The Semashkewiches also say in their court submission that the lawyer they hired to handle payments on two of the three recovery centres – and who allegedly came at the recommendation of Mr. Eldassouki – improperly sent nearly $7-million to Mr. Eldassouki’s company. Public records show that the lawyer, a man named Bryan Ward, has acted for Mr. Mraiche on several occasions, including in a civil lawsuit, in real estate transactions and in a dispute with Elections Alberta. Mr. Ward denies having acted improperly in his statement of defence, and his lawyer did not comment.