UCP Boondoggles
Albertans should hold them accountable
Published Jun 26, 2025 in The Sherwood Park • 3 minute read
If there is one thing that unites Albertans across the political spectrum it is a displeasure with provincial governments that waste our money on boondoggles. The provincial treasury is our money. Our elected representatives are responsible for how it is invested and distributed. Too many times in the past six years under UCP rule, our money has been wasted on scandals, corruption and incompetence.
As we approach the next provincial election, here are just a few of the UCP government’s costly boondoggles for which Albertans should hold them accountable: the Turkish Tylenol fiasco, the purchase of defective PPE, and now the CorruptCare scandal. Strikingly, the same business agent who helped source the questionable medication and PPE is also at the centre of the CorruptCare deal.
Turkish Tylenol
In 2022, the UCP spent seventy million dollars for just five million bottles of acetaminophen (aka Tylenol) they sourced from a Turkish company. This seventy million was spent so the Premier could stand up at a press conference and pretend she was taking care of Albertans, at a time when the supply of children’s Tylenol was extremely low across Canada due to high rates of sickness from COVID-19.
The medicine that was ordered was almost completely unusable except in hospitals because it is unsafe for over-the-counter consumption. Only 1.5 million of the 5 million bottles of the shoddy medicine was actually delivered to Alberta and it arrived after the period of high demand had passed. Because it is unusable, it is now being stored by the government in an Edmonton warehouse along with thousands of pallets of defective Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which the UCP also ordered during the pandemic. Another boondoggle worth highlighting.
Defective PPE
In 2020, the UCP spent two hundred and twenty eight million dollars to purchase PPE, masks, gowns and thermometers, for healthcare workers to use during the pandemic. The poor quality of the PPE ordered was so bad it made widespread news. It was totally unusable by frontline healthcare workers.
The UCP have now spent an additional five million dollars paying to store the Turkish Tylenol and defective PPE in an Edmonton warehouse while they try to figure out what to do with it. Nobody wants it and it is totally unusable. There are roughly 5165 pallets of Turkish Tylenol and defective PPE being stored at a cost of $22.14 per month per pallet. That is over one hundred and fourteen thousand dollars per month being continuously burned on these boondoggles!
CorruptCare Scandal
Since 2019, the UCP has spent over $614 million contracting surgeries to a for-profit private surgical provider that, according to provincial reports, charges on average 79 percent more for hip, knee and shoulder surgeries than public hospital operating rooms. There are allegations the Premier's Office may have interfered in surgical contract negotiations and pressured Alberta Health staff to accept inflated prices. The allegations coupled with the discrepancy in surgical costs, have raised serious concerns about potential corruption and price gouging that may involve UCP cabinet ministers, political staff, and the for-profit surgical provider. It is the same business the UCP used to source the Turkish Tylenol and defective PPE that is at the centre of the CorruptCare Scandal.
A report by the Government’s own investigator into its procurement and contracting processes was promised by May 30. However, on the day it was due, the UCP announced its release will now be pushed back until September 24. We’ll see.
In the meantime, we need to keep reminding our elected representatives that Albertans will not tolerate government boondoggles.
Kyle Kasawski is the MLA for Sherwood Park. If you have questions about this column or any provincial issues, he would like to hear from you. Find his contact information at kylekasawski.ca