Ex-minister Guthrie on 'probation,' barred from UCP caucus meetings after quitting cabinet

Former Alberta infrastructure minister Peter Guthrie is barred from attending UCP caucus meetings following his recent abrupt resignation, as part of a 30-day probation period he's been placed under.

Guthrie, who quit Premier Danielle Smith's cabinet in the wake of allegations about Alberta Health Services contracting, is still allowed to sit with United Conservative MLAs on the government side of the legislature chamber during this unusual probation.

Guthrie, the MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane, declined an interview request, but he confirmed to CBC News that he's been barred since Feb. 26 from attending regular caucus meetings or government committees.

A day earlier, he confirmed his resignation in a public letter that stated he'd pushed for changes to government contracting that "could have been instrumental in preventing some of the issues we are now seeing in Alberta Health and AHS."

After reports first broke about former AHS executive Athana Mentzelepoulos's allegations about her dismissal and her concerns with private surgery contracts, Guthrie had argued to cabinet colleagues that Smith should remove Health Minister Adriana LaGrange until various investigations into the ex-CEO's claims could clear the air.

His proposals for the removal of LaGrange and interim AHS CEO Andre Tremblay, reiterated in an email to cabinet reported by CBC News, went unheeded.

Since his resignation, Guthrie has been quoted in media reports as being critical of his colleagues.

Guthrie used to sit on the front row of Smith's UCP benches.

After his resignation, he was moved to the back row in the corner, next to MLA Jennifer Johnson. She spent more than a year as an independent MLA for inflammatory remarks she'd made about transgender youth — before caucus welcomed her into their fold last October.

Questions from CBC News about Guthrie's probation, sent to the whip's office and UCP caucus, were not answered.

"We don't comment on internal caucus matters," caucus spokesperson Mackenzie Blyth said in an email.

It's not clear what precedent there is for the UCP or any party to put a member on probation. In several past cases where tensions have risen, a caucus has expelled a member, making them sit as an independent MLA.

Mentzelopoulos was fired as CEO on Jan. 8, barely one year into a four-year contract to preside over AHS during the Smith government's major restructuring.

Last month, Mentzelopoulos filed a $1.7-million wrongful dismissal suit that claimed she was fired after facing government pressure to end AHS's reviews into some private surgery clinic contracts, and what she believed may be conflicts of interests within the agency's procurement unit.