A leader in Alberta’s health system fired by Premier Danielle Smith is firing back.
Tony Dagnone, in an open letter, says Smith’s abusive, divisive rhetoric mixed with her “twisted” anti-science beliefs make her a poor excuse for a leader and one that puts Albertans at risk.
Dagnone, an Order of Canada winner for his decades of work in hospital and health administration, was one of 11 members of the governing board of Alberta Health Services fired by Smith this week.
Smith blamed the agency for failing to act as hospitals were pushed to the brink during the COVID-19 pandemic and for imposing vaccine mandates as a job requirement.
Dagnone says he is not politically aligned, but feels he must speak out to defend the tens of thousands of health workers who did their best in difficult circumstances during the pandemic.
Calling Smith a “pretend leader” and the “bleakest of role models for women,” he says Albertans have a critical choice to make in the spring provincial election.
Smith’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
