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Madu was the province’s justice minister at the time he was pulled over for distracted driving and placed a phone call to Edmonton’s police chief soon after the incident
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Lawyers for former justice minister and deputy premier Kaycee Madu defended his 2021 phone call to Edmonton’s police chief at the start of a three-day Law Society of Alberta tribunal hearing on Monday.
The former minister is accused of professional misconduct stemming from the March 10, 2021 call to Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee that came minutes after Madu was issued a distracted driving ticket near his south Edmonton home.
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The law society cited Madu last July, stating his call “undermined respect for the administration of justice.”
“The respondent’s conduct was both incompatible with the public’s interests and the best interests of the legal profession,” law society lawyer Ken McEwan argued before the hearing’s three-person panel.
“As members of the legal profession, lawyers enjoy special status, and the conduct that departs from the high standard required to maintain the reputation of the profession cannot be condoned.”
Madu’s lawyer, Perry Mack, countered that context was important to the case and the phone call.
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Mack argued that Madu, as Canada’s first Black justice minister, had been working on the issue of carding as well as the surveillance of former environment minister Shannon Phillips by Lethbridge police.
“The ticket and the traffic stop may have been the prompt of the call but it was not the purpose of the call,” Mack said. “The call to the police chief has to be seen as an extension of that legitimate political process.”
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“Did I just experience what my constituents and what the town halls all of that have been telling me about?”
Madu was largely expressionless as he watched the hearing via Zoom from an office.
He was asked to step back from ministerial duties in January of 2022 by then premier Jason Kenney while retired justice Adèle Kent investigated the incident.
Kent’s report found that while Madu tried to interfere in the administration of justice, he was ultimately unsuccessful though the call created “a reasonable perception” of interfere in the justice system.
Mack sought to have the report ruled inadmissible to the law society hearing but that argument was rejected.
‘Wanted to be assured’
In their opening statements, both lawyers recounted the traffic stop and subsequent call.
McEwan described how Madu had been driving along Windermere Road when a constable observed the minister on one of his three phones inside the vehicle.
He added that Madu identified himself as the justice minister to the constable more than once during their interaction.
Mack noted that while Madu was unhappy, he did not ask the constable to rip up the ticket.
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About 20 minutes after being pulled over, Madu drove to a Superstore parking lot and had an eight-minute long phone call with McFee.
“He wanted to be assured that he had not been pulled over because of carding. And, he wanted to be assured that this was somehow not related to Lethbridge,” Mack said.
McFee told Madu he had not been racially profiled, or surveilled, and had to either pay or dispute the ticket, McEwan said.
Mack stated the ticket was paid within two days.
McFee is expected to appear before the hearing tribunal as a witness later Monday afternoon.
Third justice minister to face law society allegations
Madu is the third former Alberta justice minister to face misconduct allegations before the law society.
Jonathan Denis appeared before a tribunal in April after allegedly acting for a person while in a conflict of interest.
Tyler Shandro was accused of inappropriately contacting two Red Deer doctors on their personal phones and appearing on a Calgary doctor’s driveway to confront him about a social media post.
Decisions in both hearings were reserved and have yet to be published.
Madu’s hearing is scheduled to continue Tuesday morning before wrapping up Wednesday afternoon.
mblack@postmedia.com
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