Dr. Deena Hinshaw was hired by the AHS Indigenous Health Team and then removed against their wishes

On June 2, a screenshot of an announcement in which Dr. Deena Hinshaw was welcomed to her new position.

Hinshaw was Alberta’s chief health officer until she was fired last November by Danielle Smith shortly after she became prime minister. Recently, Hinshaw was revealed to have a new job with the Indigenous Wellness Core (IWC), an Alberta Health Services program focused on Indigenous healthcare.

Outrage erupted from many online circles — especially those opposed to Hinshaw’s support for masking and vaccines during the pandemic.

However, after the announcement message was leaked on social media, AHS issued a rack: “Dr. Hinshaw is not employed by AHS.”

This was true: according to multiple sources, her job offer had already been withdrawn, at the request of the IWC team that hired her in May. Hinshaw was scheduled to start on June 5.

As a result of that decision, the IWC’s chief medical officer, Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, resigned.

“I worked on the position I have because of integrity and because I have a genuine concern for Indigenous health,” she told CBC News in an interview, while also affirming the authenticity of the announcement.

“I thought they appreciated that and I thought my experience and wisdom would help make some changes and actually see better outcomes in Indigenous health.”

Tail feathers, a celebrated and award-winning doctorsaid the veto power of a top-down doctor selected by the IWC team was just the latest example of an old theme in Canadian politics.

“Metaphorically, to me it’s like the Indian agent still exists. The Indian agent thought he was carrying out the Queen’s wishes and the Indians’ vote didn’t matter.”

Approval came from above: source

The position Hinshaw was hired as chief of public health and preventive medicine. It was a part-time role and she wouldn’t have had anyone reporting to her.

Tailfeathers said the team followed all AHS protocols during the hiring process.

“Obviously what we were looking for is someone who knows provincial public health policies and is well versed in public health,” she said. “We needed a candidate who was very well versed in and understood the Indigenous side of health.”

Tailfeathers added that the team “did look for a candidate who was Indigenous”.

After every applicant was considered, Hinshaw rose to the top of the list because of her experience and what several people described as her good rapport with Indigenous leaders.

Tailfeathers said she had no recruiting power of her own. But the team’s chosen candidate was sent up the chain and approved. She doesn’t know how high that approval came from.

But a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly said Hinshaw’s hiring was atypical because it required approval from AHS trustee John Cowell.

According to Tailfeathers, the vacancy was signed in May. But, in a nod to the new hire’s unique circumstances, an official internal announcement was delayed until after the provincial election.

“We wanted to respect the election process, so we waited until June 1 to make the announcement,” Tailfeathers said.

“I didn’t think it would have such a big impact as it did,” she added. “I underestimated the irrational and emotional response to that.”

A polarizing figure

Early in the pandemic, Hinshaw was a widely celebrated medical figure who led Alberta through a public health crisis without modern precedent. However, her star soon fell to different groups for different reasons.

To those who opposed public health measures such as mask mandates, plant closures or vaccines, she became a maligned and deeply outraged figure.

Others who trusted the science behind those measures grew skeptical of her support for lifting them, and of her willingness to accept an advisory role for Jason Kenney’s administration rather than use the full powers of her office to protect public health.

But when the screenshot of Hinshaw’s new job announcement leaked, outrage came largely from right-wing circles.

Whether the decision to withdraw Hinshaw’s offer came before or after that leak is unclear. Tailfeathers said she learned about it the same day as the leak.

“I was told that this person would no longer be working, would not fill the position,” she said. No additional reason was given to Tailfeathers.

When asked if there was any involvement of political personnel in Hinshaw’s employment, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office did not immediately answer.

“Alberta Health Services is responsible for making decisions and the Alberta government does not comment on decisions made by AHS personnel,” Sam Blackett wrote in a one-sentence statement.

AHS declined to comment beyond their earlier statement that Hinshaw was not an employee.

CBC News also requested comment from Hinshaw, but received no response.

Smith was one vocal critic from not just Hinshaw, but from lockdowns and vaccine mandates before she became prime minister last October. Those positions, along with other views on medical science, became part of her political brand that won the base of the United Conservative Party, which elected its leader.

After being sworn in as Prime Minister, Smith announced her intention to fire Hinshaw, calling unvaccinated Canadians “the most discriminated against group I have ever seen in my life”.

‘Confusion and concern for many’

News of Tailfeathers’ resignation became public Tuesday night, when the Alberta Medical Association’s Indigenous Heath Committee issued a rack to pay attention to her work on Twitter.

“The impact her resignation will have on Indigenous health in Alberta is unknown, but there is confusion and concern among many,” the commission wrote.

Tailfeathers plans to return to her community, more than 120 miles south of Calgary, and practice full-time medicine with Kainai Nation, also known as Blood Tribe.

She pointed to the various health crises that disproportionately affect indigenous people, from infectious diseases to drug poisonings. She noted that during her tenure at the IWC, the average difference in life expectancy between Albertans and Indigenous people in Alberta grew from 13 years to 18 years.

“I’m not shy about saying my age, I’m 62, going on 63,” Tailfeathers said. “So this is the year I expect to die,” she said referring to the difference in average life expectancy.

While it may be Hinshaw’s name making headlines, the central concern in all of this for Tailfeathers is that Indigenous health outcomes in Alberta continue to deteriorate as even relatively low-level healthcare staffing decisions become politicized.

“There are gatekeepers who favor the status quo and Indigenous health will not improve unless the system includes Indigenous votes,” she said, including Indigenous decision-making.

As she exits her role, she draws several lessons from this experience.

“It tells me that doctors are not safe, even within the protocols put in place to protect doctors in this county,” Tailfeathers said. “We’re not safe because those decisions can be revoked at some level, I don’t know, but at a higher level than where I am.”