NIGERIAN MINISTER OF JUSTICE IN CANADA ASKED TO STEP OVER TRAFFIC TICKET

 

Justice Minister Kaycee Madu to 'step back from ministerial duties' after calling Edmonton police chief over distracted driving ticket

Author of the article:

Publish

Justice Minister Kaycee Madu

Premier Jason Kenney has asked Justice Minister and Solicitor General Kaycee Madu to step back from ministerial duties following reports he called Edmonton’s police chief after receiving a distracted driving ticket.

CBC News first reported Madu had been pulled over on March 10, 2021 and fined $300 for being on his cellphone in a school zone. Soon after, he called Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee to discuss the ticket.

Postmedia confirmed through court records Madu was issued a ticket for operating a vehicle while using a “I also raised concerns around profiling of racial minorities that was in the media at the time.”

Madu said McFee assured him that was not the case.

“To be abundantly clear, at no point did I request that the ticket be rescinded. I would never do that. However, in that particular call, I regret raising the issue at all with the Chief McFee,” Madu said, adding he paid the ticket in full.

Edmonton police spokeswoman Cheryl Sheppard also confirmed McFee received a phone call from Madu in relation to the ticket on March 10.

“Minister Madu had concerns about the context of the traffic stop. To be clear, he did not ask the chief to rescind the ticket. The ticket remains valid and was issued correctly,” Sheppard said in a statement.

In a series of tweets late Monday, Kenney said he spoke to Madu about the incident, and said it is “essential the independent and paid the $300 fine two days later.

In a statement to Postmedia, Madu said on the morning of March 10, he was pulled over by an Edmonton police officer, who alleged he was driving while on his phone. Madu said he disagreed, and that his phone was in his pocket.

Madu later spoke to McFee.

“Due to the timing of the incident, I wanted to ensure that I was not being unlawfully surveilled following the controversy surrounding the Lethbridge Police Service,” he said.

I also raised concerns around profiling of racial minorities that was in the media at the time.”

Madu said McFee assured him that was not the case.

“To be abundantly clear, at no point did I request that the ticket be rescinded. I would never do that. However, in that particular call, I regret raising the issue at all with the Chief McFee,” Madu said, adding he paid the ticket in full.

Edmonton police spokeswoman Cheryl Sheppard also confirmed McFee received a phone call from Madu in relation to the ticket on March 10.

“Minister Madu had concerns about the context of the traffic stop. To be clear, he did not ask the chief to rescind the ticket. The ticket remains valid and was issued correctly,” Sheppard said in a statement.

In a series of tweets late Monday, Kenney said he spoke to Madu about the incident, and said it is “essential the independent administration of justice is maintained.

"That’s why I will appoint a respected independent investigator to review the relevant facts and to determine whether there was interference in the administration of justice in this case,” Kenney said.

He has asked Madu to step back from his ministerial duties, and Energy Minister Sonya Savage will act as Minister of Justice and Solicitor General.

Opposition NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir meanwhile said Madu’s actions were “wholly unnacceptable” and is calling for Madu to resign.

“Regular Alberta drivers do not have the ability to call their local police chief and discuss traffic tickets. Madu used his position as minister to initiate this conversation, and regardless of whether he asked the chief to cancel the ticket, it is political interference for him to have discussed it all,” Sabir said.

There is a long-standing parliamentary precedent that prohibits this kind of behaviour. It is inappropriate for any cabinet minister to interfere in the administration of justice, even more so when it’s directly related to their own personal self-interest, and it’s utterly unacceptable when that interference is committed but the Attorney General.”

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt also believes Madu should step down.

“This is a red line. You do not call judges. You do not call police chiefs about active cases. As a minister of the Crown, you just do not do that,” Bratt said.

“He’s not a junior minister. He’s a justice minister. And even if the ticket wasn’t about him, but a family member, a friend, an acquaintance, a neighbour, a stranger, it doesn’t matter. You don’t call the police chief when you’re a justice minister.”

Bratt said Madu calling McFee is seen as political interference.

“Even if the police chief says, ‘Oh, he didn’t ask me to reverse the ticket.’ No, but he is letting you know about it,” Bratt said.

“He is letting you know the officer who did it. That is pressure. You don’t need to spell it out. You just know that there is a power imbalance with the minister of justice and a police chief.”