Former Alberta justice minister says he received an unfair ticket

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A Law Society of Alberta tribunal panel is considering sanctioning former Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu for calling the Edmonton police chief shortly after receiving a ticket for distraction at the flying.

Last July, the Law Society cited Madu, alleging he undermined respect for the administration of justice during his March 2021 call to Edmonton Police Service Chief Dale McFee shortly after the stop road.

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On Wednesday, a three-day hearing into the incident ended with the three-person court panel reserving its decision, saying a written decision would be issued “in due course.”

“Political and media storm”

Law Society lawyer Ken McEwan was the first to make his closing argument.

He said Madu using his position as justice minister to raise a contravention privately with the police chief had given the impression of interference, arguing the minister “had no objective basis” to pass this call.

“What would a reasonable member of the public think about this? Would their respect for the administration of justice in Alberta be encouraged or undermined? »

He further argued that Madu acted without integrity or regard for the consequences of his conduct.

“Taking the facts in the best possible light, by calling Chief McFee, he acted without regard for the potential harm to the public’s perception of the administration of justice.

Madu’s lawyer, Perry Mack, asked the committee to look beyond the “political and media storm” surrounding the incident and consider Madu’s work at the time on the issue of carding and what was so the recent revelations about members of the Lethbridge police surveilling an MP. .

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Much of that work, Mack said, involved frequent face-to-face contact with police chiefs.

“He absolutely has the right to pick up his cell phone and call the police chief at any time about carding or racial profiling, regardless of the trigger,” he said. “The ticket might well have been the prompt.” So what?”

He cautioned against Madu’s motivation for the call, arguing there was no evidence he was seeking personal advantage.

“If we are to judge Mr. Madu’s thoughts, motivations and actions… they must be judged by the standards of a black man, of a black minister of justice, of a person who spent six months in to be heard by black and ethnic communities. about the police.

Madu and the officer who arrested him, Edmonton Police Const. Ryan Brooks testified that race played no role in the stop.

“Disconnected from the facts”

Earlier on Wednesday, Madu resumed his testimony about the incident and the reaction that followed.

He denied testimony given Tuesday by Brooks, whose notes indicated Madu referred to his title as justice minister four times during their interaction.

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Madu told the court he felt he had been given a card and had only used his job title once to clarify who he worked for and the validity of the government fleet card of Alberta which he had presented to Brooks as proof of insurance.

During cross-examination, McEwan referred to transcripts of Madu’s interview with retired judge Adèle Kent before her report on the incident, as ordered by then-Prime Minister Jason Kenney.

Those transcripts indicated that Madu’s press secretary sent a text message to McFee’s staff between the time of the traffic stop and the phone call, saying the minister needed the chief’s personal cell phone number.

“Can I prepare him for what this is about,” McFee texted staff.

“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s something negative,” the press secretary replied. “The minister usually tells us what it is, unless it’s about ‘A favor.”

Madu had earlier said he had McFee’s cell phone number.

He then suggested the contact between his staff and McFee’s could have been a press conference Madu was leading the morning of the ticket regarding the police surveillance problem in Lethbridge.

McFee testified Monday that his staff had reported to him, shortly before Madu’s call, that the minister was trying to contact him.

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Madu said he initially planned to fight the ticket, but his team convinced him the public perception would be bad and he paid the ticket two days later.

He also testified that he was shocked by Kent’s subsequent report, calling it “out of touch with the facts.”

Third Minister of Justice confronted with bar allegations

Since his electoral defeat, Madu has returned to practicing law as an independent lawyer.

He is the third former Alberta justice minister to face allegations of misconduct before the bar.

Jonathan Denis appeared in court in April after allegedly acting on behalf of someone while in a conflict of interest.

Tyler Shandro was accused of inappropriate contact two Red Deer doctors on their home phones and showed up in a Calgary doctor’s driveway to confront him about a social media post.

Decisions from both hearings have been reserved and have not yet been released.

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