Braid: Details of Madu phone call were known to premier's closest staff in March 2021
Don Braid, Calgary Herald 1 day ago
The burning new question about Justice Minister Kaycee Madu’s phone call to a police chief is who knew about it, and when.
© Provided by Calgary Herald Premier Jason Kenney and Justice Minister Kaycee Madu.
In government, the answer is no mystery.
Key people in Premier Jason Kenney’s inner circle, those right at the centre of power, knew what had happened within a couple of days of the minister’s call to Chief Dale McFee of the Edmonton Police Service.
They were very worried about repercussions. And they did their best to keep it quiet.
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Kenney said Thursday: “I do recall at some point last year hearing that minister Madu had gotten a ticket, had paid for it.”
He added that he wasn’t fully briefed on “the call and the details” until this past Monday, after the CBC’s Elise von Scheel and Janice Johnston broke the story.
Madu was issued the $300 ticket for distracted driving in a school zone on March 10, 2021. Shortly afterward he called the chief.
That much is publicly acknowledged now, including Madu’s continuing denial that he deserved to get a ticket. He said his cellphone was in his pocket.
(Interestingly, all ministers have three cellphones: one ministerial, another for constituency matters and a personal phone.)
In government, the answer is no mystery.
Key people in Premier Jason Kenney’s inner circle, those right at the centre of power, knew what had happened within a couple of days of the minister’s call to Chief Dale McFee of the Edmonton Police Service.
They were very worried about repercussions. And they did their best to keep it quiet.
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Kenney said Thursday: “I do recall at some point last year hearing that minister Madu had gotten a ticket, had paid for it.”
He added that he wasn’t fully briefed on “the call and the details” until this past Monday, after the CBC’s Elise von Scheel and Janice Johnston broke the story.
Madu was issued the $300 ticket for distracted driving in a school zone on March 10, 2021. Shortly afterward he called the chief.
That much is publicly acknowledged now, including Madu’s continuing denial that he deserved to get a ticket. He said his cellphone was in his pocket.
(Interestingly, all ministers have three cellphones: one ministerial, another for constituency matters and a personal phone.)
Very quickly after the call between Madu and McFee, staff were trying to figure out how to handle this.
Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon, a key political adviser to the premier, discussed the matter with Pam Livingston, then Kenney’s deputy chief of staff, now the chief.
Nixon also talked to Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver.
Other key people were told directly what had happened, apparently with details of the chief’s reaction to the call.
They included Larry Kaumeyer, who at that point was Kenney’s chief of staff, and Matt Wolf, his issues manager. After learning the details, they both talked to Madu.
Both Kaumeyer and Wolf have since left the government.
Word also spread quickly across the Edmonton Police Service. Lobbyists who deal with the government were asking staff about it.
Some reporters got wind of the call but weren’t able to confirm facts until the CBC finally nailed it, 10 months later.
Was Kenney briefed in this period right after Madu called the chief?
I haven’t spoken to any source who can say definitely that he was.
But at the same time, they say he should have been told about a matter so sensitive and potentially damaging. Most find his explanation vague in the extreme.
The call became a joking matter as word spread around the government, but there was always a recognition that it was serious business.
A justice minister who calls a police chief about a penalty issued to him personally is way over the red line that is supposed to protect police from political interference.
Madu’s other issues — racial profiling, even his suggestion that he was being improperly watched — are very important subjects in another forum, including the legislature or during a policy review.
But not when the minister has just received a ticket; even if, as Madu says, he did not ask for it to be rescinded.
In the end, it appears that Madu was told to pay the ticket. The government would then let it ride, hoping the call to McFee would never become public.
There was another way, of course. Kenney could have announced immediately that the minister made a big mistake and fire him; or, as now, suspend him while investigating .
Kenney would at least have earned credit for dealing with it quickly and openly.
That kind of open approach is essential to every successful government. But it doesn’t seem to be in this outfit’s DNA.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Calgary Herald.
Twitter: @DonBraid
Facebook: Don Braid Politics
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