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

On June 2, a screengrab of an announcement welcoming Dr. Deena Hinshaw to her new position began circulating on social media.

Hinshaw was Alberta's chief medical officer of health until she was fired last November by Danielle Smith, shortly after she became premier. Most recently, Hinshaw appeared to have a new job with the Indigenous Wellness Core (IWC), a program of Alberta Health Services focused on Indigenous health-care.

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

However after the announcement notice leaked on social media, 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This was true: according to multiple sources, her job offer had already been revoked, over the wishes of the IWC team who hired her in May.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," she 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 & Preventative Medicine Lead. 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."