Dr. Deena Hinshaw was hired by the AHS Indigenous health team, then removed against its wishes

Dr. Esther Tailfeathers resigned as team lead after saying she felt ‘disposed of’

When a screengrab of an announcement welcoming Dr. Deena Hinshaw to her new position appeared on social media earlier this month, a furor erupted online.

Hinshaw was Alberta’s chief medical officer of health until she was fired last November by Danielle Smith, shortly after Smith became premier.

Now Hinshaw appeared to have a job with the Indigenous Wellness Core (IWC), a program of Alberta Health Services focused on Indigenous health care.

Outrage ensued from many quarters — particularly from those opposed to Hinshaw’s support of masking and vaccines during the pandemic.

AHS issued a statement: “Dr. Hinshaw is not employed by AHS.”

This was true: according to multiple sources, her job offer had already been revoked, over the wishes of the IWC team that had hired her in May. Hinshaw was due to start June 5.

As a result of that decision from higher up, the medical lead of the IWC, Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, resigned.

“I’ve worked to the position I have because of integrity and because I’m genuinely concerned about Indigenous health,” Tailfeathers told CBC News in an interview while also confirming the authenticity of the announcement notice.

“I thought they valued that and I thought that my experience and wisdom would help guide making some changes and actually seeing some better outcomes in Indigenous health.”

Tailfeathers, a celebrated and award-winning physician, said having a doctor selected by the IWC team be vetoed from above was only 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’ voice didn’t matter.

The position Hinshaw was hired for was Public Health and Preventive Medicine Lead with the IWC. It was a part-time role, and she would not have had anyone reporting to her.

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

“What we were looking for is somebody, of course, who knew provincial public health policy and who was 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 by virtue of her experience and what multiple people described as her good rapport with Indigenous leaders.

Tailfeathers said she didn’t have hiring power herself. But the team’s chosen candidate was sent up the chain and approved. She doesn’t know how high up that approval came from.

But a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly said that Hinshaw’s hiring was atypical in that it required approval by Dr. John Cowell, the administrator of AHS.