A southern Alberta doctor is engulfed in controversy after he allegedly told a group of Indigenous people who are homeless to "get a job" and sarcastically asked them if they wanted prescriptions for the addictive painkiller Tylenol 3.

Alberta Health Services has placed Dr. Lloyd Clarke on administrative leave from his position as the associate medical director for the southern region of the province, while the health authority investigates the incident.

A lawyer representing two of the Indigenous people involved filed a complaint with the regulator and watchdog for physicians, alleging Clarke's "racism against my community members impairs his ability to treat us as patients in a proper way."

After reviewing the case, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta rejected the complaint. But Ingrid Hess, the lawyer and a First Nations advocate, is appealing.

Hess says the alleged incident, which witnesses say took place outside a Cardston convenience store in May, has triggered outrage among members of the neighbouring Blood Tribe and inspired efforts to document other claims of racism in the region.

Clarke doesn't confirm or deny

The lawyer says she didn't witness it, but took a statement from some of the people involved, and filed the complaint on their behalf. She also notified Alberta Health Services.

Clarke, who practises at the Cardston Health Centre's emergency department and at a separate clinic in the town, didn't confirm or deny the incident occurred when reached by a reporter.

"I'm aware that the appropriate bodies are investigating this and I'm co-operating with that," he said.

When asked in a follow-up interview to comment on allegations he has racist views toward Indigenous people, Clarke said, "It's not appropriate for me to comment. I'm working with the investigation to go through this in the proper channels. I am co-operating completely with them."

According to AHS, if any of the First Nations people involved in the alleged incident seek care at Cardston's emergency room, they don't have to receive care from Clarke, unless they have life-threatening problems that require immediate attention.

"There is no excuse for the comments that were allegedly made in this instance, and we want to assure those involved in this incident that this sort of alleged language in no way reflects the beliefs or values of AHS," the health authority said in a statement.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons, which regulates the medical profession and investigates complaints against doctors, told CBC News Clarke's alleged behaviour is "damaging" and "appears to show poor judgment."

But the college said it doesn't believe Clarke is prejudiced toward Indigenous people, concluding the incident didn't amount to professional misconduct.

In a letter responding to Hess's complaint, the college said it "cannot dictate the behaviour of what a physician does outside a clinical setting, excluding extreme circumstances."

'Blatant biases and negative views'

Hess has appealed the decision, calling for an investigation into whether "Dr. Clarke's blatant biases and negative views of Indigenous people might influence his care of the Indigenous patients he treats, especially if they are drug-addicted, alcoholic or homeless."

Clarke works in Cardston, where an estimated one in seven residents is Indigenous.

Nicole Gros Ventre Boy, one of two people Hess is helping with the complaint, told CBC News she was sitting outside a Cardston convenience store in May when she claims Clarke emerged from the exit.

"He stood there and he told us, 'You guys should get a job' … then he's like, 'My family are scared to come and shop here. You guys just bother people for money,'" she recalled.

'I just felt like he was racist'

"Afterwards, he said, 'Should I write you a prescription of Tylenol 3s?' and he put his hand out and acted like he was writing."

Gros Ventre Boy, who received health care from Clarke in the past, said the comments hurt her.

"I just felt like he was racist, like he didn't like natives," she said. "There was no reason for him to come up to us and talk. We were not doing anything."

Gros Ventre Boy's account lines up with the description of events outlined in Hess's complaint. It's also consistent with how Scott Many Grey Horses remembers the confrontation.

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