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Smith reiterated she has done nothing wrong, stands by her health minister, welcomes an internal investigation and suggested she is the victim of vindictive bureaucrats standing in the way of health care progress.

This was Smith鈥檚 first time facing the news media since the Globe and Mail reported two weeks ago on blistering allegations made by Athana Mentzelopoulos, the recently fired CEO of Alberta Health Services, who has launched a $1.7-million suit for wrongful dismissal.

In a nutshell, include allegations that government officials interfered in procurement contracts that benefitted private companies. The allegations have not been tested in court but they have and her government.

Smith has tried to lay low but she has been forced to surface by relentless pressure from critics and supporters alike.

In fact, last week Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie tossed a grenade into the controversy by calling on Smith to remove Adriana LaGrange from her position as health minister until an investigation is complete. And he said the RCMP should be called in if necessary.

You know a government is in trouble when its cabinet ministers start turning on each other, especially when explosive internal memos find their way to the news media.

And you know a government is in trouble when one of its most trusted civil servants is the one who built the political equivalent of a nuclear device 鈥� and wheeled it into the premier鈥檚 office.

Mentzelopoulos alleges that just two days before meeting with the province鈥檚 auditor general last month to discuss her concerns of wrongdoing, she was dismissed. Days later the government fired the entire board of Alberta Health Services. The service is now being run by the deputy minister of health, who is taking a temporary leave from his job.聽

The government insists the dismissals were simply part of its plans to restructure the health care system.

But the allegations involve government interference in contracts worth millions of dollars, not health care restructuring. During Wednesday鈥檚 news conference, Smith seemed to have a difficult time explaining what she knew of the allegations and when she knew it.

And she suggested that somehow the complaints are linked to 鈥渞esistance鈥� from聽Alberta Health Services management, who don鈥檛 want to change the health care system.

What Smith fails to point out is that Mentzelopoulos is not some long-time calcified聽Alberta Health Services bureaucrat. Mentzelopoulos was actively recruited by Smith鈥檚 government just over a year ago.

Mentzelopoulos is something of a superstar in the civil service/administrator world. After working as a deputy minister in the B.C. government, she was recruited to be Alberta鈥檚 deputy minister of finance under Premier Jason Kenney. She left government to become executive director of the Alberta Medical Association before the Smith government brought her back to be for a four-year term. Mentzelopoulos was fired after just one year.

Health care unions are calling for an independent investigation, something the government has said it supports but we have yet to see details.聽

NDP leader Naheed Nenshi is demanding Smith and step aside as premier while an investigation takes place. That鈥檚 a tad premature considering we have yet to get to the bottom of the allegations. But what鈥檚 an opposition leader to do when he struggles to be heard over the noise generated almost daily by Smith and her interventionist government?

The NDP have happily dubbed it the 鈥淐orruptCare Scandal.鈥�

Smith would no doubt like to frame Mentzelopoulos鈥� accusations as simply part of an internal struggle over the future of health care in Alberta. But the allegations are too explosive to be ignored and too difficult to be easily defused.