Former chief of staff to Alberta Premier lived in home owned by Sam Mraiche’s sister

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s former chief of staff lived in a $1.6-million Edmonton home owned by the sister of Sam Mraiche, a businessman whose dealings with the provincial health authority are subject to multiple investigations.

Marshall Smith, who served as the Premier‘s chief of staff between October, 2022, and October, 2024, lived at the property, not far from the University of Alberta, after it was purchased by Mr. Mraiche‘s sister Fatima Mraiche in August, 2023.

Mr. Mraiche and Mr. Smith are key figures in the political-interference allegations made earlier this year by Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former chief executive officer of Alberta Health Services. Ms. Mentzelopoulos alleges in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit that Mr. Smith placed pressure on her to take action that would benefit private companies, including those in which Mr. Mraiche had a financial interest. She was fired in January by the province, which also dissolved the entire board of the health authority three weeks later.

The Premier has made reforming the province’s health care system a key priority. That work has involved overhauling Alberta’s provincial health authority by breaking it apart into four agencies as the government seeks to reduce wait times by expanding the use of private contractors. Ms. Smith and her government have also made several changes to Alberta Health Services’ senior leadership, cycling through several executives and board members.

The fact that Mr. Smith lived in a home owned by Mr. Mraiche‘s sibling may raise questions for investigators examining Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s allegations. Those separate probes are being conducted by Alberta’s Auditor-General, the RCMP, and retired Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant, who was appointed by the province.

The government, in its statement of defence to the wrongful dismissal lawsuit, alleges Ms. Mentzelopoulos was fired for incompetence. The allegations have not been tested in court.

Mr. Smith, when asked about his living arrangements and Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s allegations, said, through a lawyer, that he plans to sue her and The Globe and Mail.

The lawyer, Philip Prowse, sent a draft lawsuit to The Globe alleging Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s legal filings, and a Globe story published Feb. 5 on allegations she made previously, are false and defamatory.

The lawsuit, filed in court on Wednesday, also alleges Ms. Mentzelopoulos has “mischaracterized, cherry-picked, and taken out of context” her conversations with Mr. Smith.

In a letter to The Globe, Mr. Prowse confirmed Mr. Smith lived at Fatima Mraiche‘s property.

Mr. Prowse said “the landlords for this property were appropriately compensated for its use.” He declined to answer other questions about Mr. Smith’s tenancy, including how much he paid in rent.

Neither Mr. Mraiche‘s lawyers nor Fatima Mraiche responded to requests for comment.

In April, one of Mr. Mraiche‘s companies, MHCare Medical Corp., said in a statement that Mr. Mraiche and Mr. Smith were not “particularly close.” The company’s nine-page letter was issued to address Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s allegations and clarify its relationship with the government.

“The unspectacular truth is that Mr. Mraiche‘s interactions with government, those in elected office and senior staff fit entirely within the established parameters of typical government relations for the CEO of a commercial entity,” the unsigned letter says.

Mr. Smith declined to respond to questions about when he lived at the property. Text messages written by Mr. Smith and obtained by The Globe show he referred to the property as his home between August, 2023 and mid-2024.

Jeremy Amyotte, the realtor who represented the home’s sellers, said Fatima Mraiche took possession of the property, through a numbered company, on Aug. 11, 2023.

Mr. Smith lived at the property with at least two other people.

Ethan Lecavalier-Kidney told The Globe he lived at the property under a sublease agreement from August, 2023 to April, 2024. He said he paid $1,118 a month, plus utilities. He did not answer questions about who collected his rent.

Eric Engler also confirmed he resided at the property but did not provide details about when he lived there or the amount of rent he paid.

Both said they were unaware of who owned the property. The two men worked in government as political staff.

The new $1.6-million home was finished the same year Fatima Mraiche acquired it. The property consists of more than 2,500 square feet of living space, with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a half bath and a Japanese-inspired garden, according to the real-estate listing. There is also a self-contained suite at the rear of the property that sits above a three-car garage.

Mr. Smith’s employment agreement with the Alberta government included a housing subsidy, according to the publicly available copy of his contract.

The Premier, who is not related to Mr. Smith, signed an agreement on July 20, 2023, that provided Mr. Smith a housing allowance of up to $23,160 per year, equal to what members of the Legislature who live outside Edmonton received at the time.

“The employee will be required to divide time between Edmonton, AB and Calgary, AB,” the contract reads. It states that Mr. Smith would be reimbursed upon submission of receipts.

The Premier’s office did not acknowledge four requests for comment.

Mr. Mraiche‘s medical supply business has received roughly $614-million from Alberta Health Services in exchange for goods and services, Ms. Mentzelopoulos alleges in her lawsuit. This includes MHCare’s $70-million deal, signed in early December, 2022, to import children’s pain medication from Turkey. Only a fraction of the medication arrived in Alberta. In its April letter, MHCare said Health Canada did not provide import approvals for the entire order.

MHCare in its April letter said Mr. Mraiche had never spoken with Mr. Smith until late December, 2022.

In July, 2023, the health authority and MHCare signed a subsequent deal for acetaminophen that is administered through an IV. Alberta Health Service then paid the company $28-million, the amount outstanding on the original $70-million import deal. The Globe obtained the contract as part of an information package prepared for the health authority’s board in January.

MHCare’s letter said the company is still pursuing the necessary approvals to fulfill the contract.

Fatima Mraiche sold the house in August, 2024 for $1.7-million, property records show.