Alberta recommended a Mraiche-linked builder for a First Nation's recovery centre, a lawyer alleges

Cost of the Tsuut'ina recovery centre

35 $ million

Terry Braun, Tsuut'ina Nation's former lawyer, says in a court document that the province recommended Melewka Homes Ltd. to build the nation's $35-million addiction recovery centre near Calgary.

The builder has been linked in court filings to Sam Mraiche, a medical-supply executive whose business and government contracts are part of an RCMP investigation; he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Premier Danielle Smith has said the communities that received the grants chose the builder themselves, and the filing does not say who made the recommendation.

We know nothing about them, which is why we rely on the First Nations and the Métis, when we give them a grant, to manage their own contracts.

— Premier Danielle Smith, in the legislature in March

Communities that hired Melewka Homes

• Tsuut'ina Nation
• Enoch Cree Nation
• Métis Nation of Alberta

Three Indigenous communities received more than $100 million in provincial grants for recovery centres, and each gave its contract to Melewka Homes.

Tsuut'ina Chief Ellery Starlight says the centre is about 80 per cent complete and the nation is still investigating how the contract was managed; Braun denies any wrongdoing.