NOT THE FIRST TIME HE HAS DONE THIS
BY ADAM MACVICAR GLOBAL NEWS
April 5, 2020
There are calls for Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro to resign
after he contacted a doctor on his personal phone and visited another doctor’s home.
Adam MacVicar reports.
Alberta’s Opposition NDP is calling for the province’s Health Minister Tyler Shandro to step down after allegations he abused the power of his office and contacted a doctor on his personal phone after hours.
The allegations stem from a February funding announcement in Red Deer, where Shandro briefly met and spoke with local family physician Dr. John Julyan-Gudgeon.
Julyan-Gudgeon said he was trying to speak with Shandro about his concerns with changes to the provincial health-care system, but was unable to have the conversation due to security.
According to Julyan-Gudgeon, it was later the following night that he received a call from Shandro on his personal cell phone.
The allegations stem from a February funding announcement in Red Deer, where Shandro briefly met and spoke with local family physician Dr. John Julyan-Gudgeon.
Julyan-Gudgeon said he was trying to speak with Shandro about his concerns with changes to the provincial health-care system, but was unable to have the conversation due to security.
According to Julyan-Gudgeon, it was later the following night that he received a call from Shandro on his personal cell phone.
“It was fairly surprising, this occurrence,” Julyan-Gudgeon said in a phone interview with Global News on Saturday. “I immediately recognized his voice and nonetheless, since I was a bit taken aback, my first instinct was to ask who it was and he identified himself as the health minister.”
Julyan-Gudgeon said he and Shandro spoke collaboratively and constructively about cuts to health care and expenditures before Shandro gave him contact information in case he had any concerns in the future.
According to Julyan-Gudgeon, Shandro told him he got his private contact information through Alberta Health Services.
“This was at my home, this was on my personal cell number,” Julyan-Gudgeon said. “I felt that the real message that was being relayed to me is that I could be gotten ahold of, I could be found.”
Julyan-Gudgeon has submitted a complaint to Alberta’s Privacy Commissioner regarding the call.
However, Julyan-Gudgeon said he would withdraw that complaint if he could speak with Shandro and if the ministry worked to rebuild the relationship between the government and doctors in the province.
“What we have then is what would possibly look like a slow progression of a set of behaviours that doesn’t seem to respect barriers, so in that light I felt that I now had to come forward,” he said.
Alberta Health Ministry press secretary Steve Buick said in a statement to Global News: “Dr. John Julyan-Gudgeon attempted to speak to the minister at an event. The minister unfortunately couldn’t speak at that time, but still wished to follow up by phone. The minister asked officials for Dr. Julyan-Gudgeon’s contact information so he could follow up.”
“He later called Dr. Julyan-Gudgeon, and they had a very civil conversation. During that call, at no point did Dr. Julyan-Gudgeon indicate that he in any way objected to being contacted,” the statement continued.
“In fact, they exchanged text messages several times after that phone call about various policy suggestions. Since then, Dr. Julyan-Gudgeon has continued to try to contact the minister in various ways but his tone became harassing and the minister was advised to stop communicating with him.”
The latest developments come on the heels of accusations that Shandro and his wife went to a doctor’s personal home and angrily confronted them over a meme that was being shared online.
Julyan-Gudgeon said he and Shandro spoke collaboratively and constructively about cuts to health care and expenditures before Shandro gave him contact information in case he had any concerns in the future.
According to Julyan-Gudgeon, Shandro told him he got his private contact information through Alberta Health Services.
“This was at my home, this was on my personal cell number,” Julyan-Gudgeon said. “I felt that the real message that was being relayed to me is that I could be gotten ahold of, I could be found.”
Julyan-Gudgeon has submitted a complaint to Alberta’s Privacy Commissioner regarding the call.
However, Julyan-Gudgeon said he would withdraw that complaint if he could speak with Shandro and if the ministry worked to rebuild the relationship between the government and doctors in the province.
“What we have then is what would possibly look like a slow progression of a set of behaviours that doesn’t seem to respect barriers, so in that light I felt that I now had to come forward,” he said.
Alberta Health Ministry press secretary Steve Buick said in a statement to Global News: “Dr. John Julyan-Gudgeon attempted to speak to the minister at an event. The minister unfortunately couldn’t speak at that time, but still wished to follow up by phone. The minister asked officials for Dr. Julyan-Gudgeon’s contact information so he could follow up.”
“He later called Dr. Julyan-Gudgeon, and they had a very civil conversation. During that call, at no point did Dr. Julyan-Gudgeon indicate that he in any way objected to being contacted,” the statement continued.
“In fact, they exchanged text messages several times after that phone call about various policy suggestions. Since then, Dr. Julyan-Gudgeon has continued to try to contact the minister in various ways but his tone became harassing and the minister was advised to stop communicating with him.”
The latest developments come on the heels of accusations that Shandro and his wife went to a doctor’s personal home and angrily confronted them over a meme that was being shared online.
Dr. Mukarram Zaidi, the family physician in Calgary that was confronted by Shandro, confirmed the exchange to Global News.
Zaidi said he and Shandro have been acquaintances for many years and agreed to take down the post.
Shandro has since apologized and stated he was defending his wife from unsolicited attacks online.
But Alberta’s Opposition health critic David Shepard argued that Shandro should step down from his position due to his behaviour.
“He clearly does not have the temperament, or the judgment, or even the slightest understanding of the integrity and the responsibility that is expected of a minister of the Crown,” Shepard said on Friday.
“It’s utterly unacceptable behavior, and it’s clear that the minister needs to step down or Premier Kenney needs to remove him from that post.”
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt agreed that Shandro should step down, despite the minister’s intentions behind the call.
“It’s not the nature of the conversation, it’s hunting down private information and I think that’s where the problem lies,” Bratt said.
“I would hope that he would be having some conversations with Shandro talking about this sort of behavior but I don’t think Kenney is going to ask for his resignation because it would acknowledge that he’s made a mistake.”
Julyan-Gudgeon wouldn’t comment on whether he thinks Shandro should step down from his post, instead saying he wants the best option for the preservation of Alberta’s health-care system.
“His behavior towards me is not as important to me as my patients are,” he said.
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt agreed that Shandro should step down, despite the minister’s intentions behind the call.
“It’s not the nature of the conversation, it’s hunting down private information and I think that’s where the problem lies,” Bratt said.
“I would hope that he would be having some conversations with Shandro talking about this sort of behavior but I don’t think Kenney is going to ask for his resignation because it would acknowledge that he’s made a mistake.”
Julyan-Gudgeon wouldn’t comment on whether he thinks Shandro should step down from his post, instead saying he wants the best option for the preservation of Alberta’s health-care system.
“His behavior towards me is not as important to me as my patients are,” he said.
© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Alberta health minister ‘needs to step down’ after angrily confronting doctor over Facebook meme: analyst
BY HEIDE PEARSON GLOBAL NEWS
Posted March 27, 2020
Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro is coming under fire after
BY HEIDE PEARSON GLOBAL NEWS
Posted March 27, 2020
Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro is coming under fire after
confronting a Calgary doctor over a social media post. Adam Toy reports.
Political scientist Duane Bratt says Alberta’s health minister needs to resign from his position, or be removed from caucus, after it came to light he and his wife went to a doctor’s personal home and angrily confronted them over a meme.
Alberta doctors getting ready for court fight against new pay, benefits deal
A closer look at changes Alberta is making to doctor rules, fees
Dr. Mukarram Zaidi, a family physician in Calgary, said he was at home with his family on Saturday evening and his children were playing in the yard. He said one of them came in and said someone was outside wanting to talk to him.
When Zaidi went out, he found Health Minister Tyler Shandro and his wife standing on the sidewalk. His children and wife stayed inside.
“He was angry, crying, high with emotion and effects,” Zaidi said Friday.
Zaidi said the confrontation came after he shared a meme on Facebook showing Shandro sitting at a desk with a thought bubble over his head that reads: “So every Albertan that I can kick off health care is another client we can sign up for Vital Partners! We’re going to be RICH!” The meme also included an emoji of a surprised face.
‘First and foremost a husband’
In an emailed statement on Friday afternoon, Shandro said, “yes, I am a minister of the Government of Alberta – but I am first and foremost a father and husband.”
“Last week my wife was subjected to an online campaign of defamation, which led to her facing harassment and threats at her place of work,” Shandro wrote, adding that at one point his wife believed someone would come to her workplace, threatening her and her staff’s safety.
“Of course the attacks on someone I love and the mother of my children upset me deeply. As any husband would do, I responded passionately to defend my wife,” he wrote.
READ MORE: Alberta doctors highest paid in Canada, costing province $3.4B: report
Shandro said that when he saw a long-time political acquaintance of his was participating in the attacks against his wife, he felt the need to speak to him and “implore him to cease propagating this false information.”
He also said he personally responded to emails from people criticizing his wife because they disagree with his actions as minister of health.
“I fully expected to face attacks when I signed up to run for office – but my wife did not. That is true of any elected official’s family,” Shandro said.
“I fully recognize the enormity of what our province and country is going through right now, and regret that this episode has become a distraction. For that, I am sincerely sorry.”
‘Profound lapse in judgement’
The “shocking” details of the confrontation prompted Opposition Leader Rachel Notley to call for the immediate replacement of Shandro on Friday.
“This is a profound lapse in judgement,” Notley said in a statement.
“This alone raises the question of whether he is suited to provide leadership for Albertans at this historic time. That is not how a minister of the Crown serves the public. That is not how leaders act.”
Notley went on to say that in the midst of the COVID-19 public health crisis, when Albertans are fearful, anxious and many are suddenly facing unemployment, Shandro’s focus shouldn’t have been “going to the home of private citizens at night and publicly threatening them.”
“We are in the middle of a pandemic. People’s lives are at risk,” Notley said.
“Albertans deserve a minister who is laser-focused on keeping them healthy and safe and frontline health care providers deserve a minister who is laser-focused on giving them all the resources they need to keep Albertans healthy and safe.”
READ MORE: Alberta closes some non-essential business, prevents evictions as 542 COVID-19 cases confirmed
Bratt said he was “stunned” by what happened, adding that Shandro’s behaviour, in his opinion, is a fireable offence.
“There’s often confrontations that the politicians may have with angry constituents in public… or even constituents going to politicians’ homes. This was the opposite,” Bratt said.
“This was the minister of health and his wife going to someone’s home, asking for his kids to go inside because they were going to yell at him, and berating him in public in front of his family over a Facebook post.”
Bratt said the fact that it was the minister of health confronting a doctor is also an abuse of power.
“You cannot have ministers of the Crown going over and intimidating citizens,” he said.
“And that’s what this was. What makes it worse is, it was a doctor, this was the minister of health — there was a power differential there. It’s just tough to imagine how he cannot resign for this.”
Speaking to the media as part of the daily government update on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Jason Kenney said he doesn’t accept calls for Shandro’s resignation.
“I think any Albertan would understand that a husband or wife will get passionate when their spouse is being attacked, and even threatened, and certainly defamed,” Kenney said.
“When Minister Shandro saw that his wife was being defamed by a neighbour who had been an acquaintance of his for many years, he went down to chat with the neighbour to ask that the post be deleted and it was deleted.”
READ MORE: Alberta doctors say budget figure a deep salary cut when fee changes kick in
Kenney said Shandro issuing a statement on the matter was the “end of the matter,” adding that he’s told Shandro to stay away from social media and focus on his job.
Zaidi said he and his family haven’t heard from the Shandros again, but said he forgives both of them for their actions.
“We have never faced a pandemic,” Zaidi said.
“He must be in a lot more stress that anybody else being the minister. I know him for a few years, so I think he… his emotions and his anger and his concern for his family took the best of him and he acted out of character.”
He said he never wanted to have the matter dealt with in the public sphere, but rather to handle it privately. However, he said CBC News, which originally broke the story, got a news tip somehow and contacted him for a interview.
Political scientist Duane Bratt says Alberta’s health minister needs to resign from his position, or be removed from caucus, after it came to light he and his wife went to a doctor’s personal home and angrily confronted them over a meme.
Alberta doctors getting ready for court fight against new pay, benefits deal
A closer look at changes Alberta is making to doctor rules, fees
Dr. Mukarram Zaidi, a family physician in Calgary, said he was at home with his family on Saturday evening and his children were playing in the yard. He said one of them came in and said someone was outside wanting to talk to him.
When Zaidi went out, he found Health Minister Tyler Shandro and his wife standing on the sidewalk. His children and wife stayed inside.
“He was angry, crying, high with emotion and effects,” Zaidi said Friday.
Zaidi said the confrontation came after he shared a meme on Facebook showing Shandro sitting at a desk with a thought bubble over his head that reads: “So every Albertan that I can kick off health care is another client we can sign up for Vital Partners! We’re going to be RICH!” The meme also included an emoji of a surprised face.
READ MORE: Over 120 emergency room doctors send urgent letter to Alberta’s health minister
Vital Partners is the supplementary health-benefits company of which Shandro’s wife is part owner. Despite that being OKed by the ethics commissioner when Shandro became minister, some Albertans still view it as a conflict of interest.
“His wife was with him and he says that he can’t deal with this. ‘We are getting death threats, we have to move now, we have children, we can’t live where we are,'” Zaidi said.
“And this is happening at my neighbourhood, at 7 p.m., everybody’s around.TWEET THIS
“And I’m like, OK how do we dissolve it in a civil fashion. And he says, ‘Take the post down.'”
Zaidi said he agreed to take the meme down and went back inside, thinking that considering the emotional state the Shandros were in, they wouldn’t be able to have a rational discussion.
Zaidi said he and Shandro have been acquaintances for many years, having previously served together in a constituency office. He said he believes Shandro was taken over by his emotions when he lashed out.
Vital Partners is the supplementary health-benefits company of which Shandro’s wife is part owner. Despite that being OKed by the ethics commissioner when Shandro became minister, some Albertans still view it as a conflict of interest.
“His wife was with him and he says that he can’t deal with this. ‘We are getting death threats, we have to move now, we have children, we can’t live where we are,'” Zaidi said.
“And this is happening at my neighbourhood, at 7 p.m., everybody’s around.TWEET THIS
“And I’m like, OK how do we dissolve it in a civil fashion. And he says, ‘Take the post down.'”
Zaidi said he agreed to take the meme down and went back inside, thinking that considering the emotional state the Shandros were in, they wouldn’t be able to have a rational discussion.
Zaidi said he and Shandro have been acquaintances for many years, having previously served together in a constituency office. He said he believes Shandro was taken over by his emotions when he lashed out.
‘First and foremost a husband’
In an emailed statement on Friday afternoon, Shandro said, “yes, I am a minister of the Government of Alberta – but I am first and foremost a father and husband.”
“Last week my wife was subjected to an online campaign of defamation, which led to her facing harassment and threats at her place of work,” Shandro wrote, adding that at one point his wife believed someone would come to her workplace, threatening her and her staff’s safety.
“Of course the attacks on someone I love and the mother of my children upset me deeply. As any husband would do, I responded passionately to defend my wife,” he wrote.
READ MORE: Alberta doctors highest paid in Canada, costing province $3.4B: report
Shandro said that when he saw a long-time political acquaintance of his was participating in the attacks against his wife, he felt the need to speak to him and “implore him to cease propagating this false information.”
He also said he personally responded to emails from people criticizing his wife because they disagree with his actions as minister of health.
“I fully expected to face attacks when I signed up to run for office – but my wife did not. That is true of any elected official’s family,” Shandro said.
“I fully recognize the enormity of what our province and country is going through right now, and regret that this episode has become a distraction. For that, I am sincerely sorry.”
‘Profound lapse in judgement’
The “shocking” details of the confrontation prompted Opposition Leader Rachel Notley to call for the immediate replacement of Shandro on Friday.
“This is a profound lapse in judgement,” Notley said in a statement.
“This alone raises the question of whether he is suited to provide leadership for Albertans at this historic time. That is not how a minister of the Crown serves the public. That is not how leaders act.”
Notley went on to say that in the midst of the COVID-19 public health crisis, when Albertans are fearful, anxious and many are suddenly facing unemployment, Shandro’s focus shouldn’t have been “going to the home of private citizens at night and publicly threatening them.”
“We are in the middle of a pandemic. People’s lives are at risk,” Notley said.
“Albertans deserve a minister who is laser-focused on keeping them healthy and safe and frontline health care providers deserve a minister who is laser-focused on giving them all the resources they need to keep Albertans healthy and safe.”
READ MORE: Alberta closes some non-essential business, prevents evictions as 542 COVID-19 cases confirmed
Bratt said he was “stunned” by what happened, adding that Shandro’s behaviour, in his opinion, is a fireable offence.
“There’s often confrontations that the politicians may have with angry constituents in public… or even constituents going to politicians’ homes. This was the opposite,” Bratt said.
“This was the minister of health and his wife going to someone’s home, asking for his kids to go inside because they were going to yell at him, and berating him in public in front of his family over a Facebook post.”
Bratt said the fact that it was the minister of health confronting a doctor is also an abuse of power.
“You cannot have ministers of the Crown going over and intimidating citizens,” he said.
“And that’s what this was. What makes it worse is, it was a doctor, this was the minister of health — there was a power differential there. It’s just tough to imagine how he cannot resign for this.”
Speaking to the media as part of the daily government update on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Jason Kenney said he doesn’t accept calls for Shandro’s resignation.
“I think any Albertan would understand that a husband or wife will get passionate when their spouse is being attacked, and even threatened, and certainly defamed,” Kenney said.
“When Minister Shandro saw that his wife was being defamed by a neighbour who had been an acquaintance of his for many years, he went down to chat with the neighbour to ask that the post be deleted and it was deleted.”
Kenney responds to allegations against Health Minister Tyler Shandro
READ MORE: Alberta doctors say budget figure a deep salary cut when fee changes kick in
Kenney said Shandro issuing a statement on the matter was the “end of the matter,” adding that he’s told Shandro to stay away from social media and focus on his job.
Zaidi said he and his family haven’t heard from the Shandros again, but said he forgives both of them for their actions.
“We have never faced a pandemic,” Zaidi said.
“He must be in a lot more stress that anybody else being the minister. I know him for a few years, so I think he… his emotions and his anger and his concern for his family took the best of him and he acted out of character.”
He said he never wanted to have the matter dealt with in the public sphere, but rather to handle it privately. However, he said CBC News, which originally broke the story, got a news tip somehow and contacted him for a interview.
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