Retired justice to investigate Kaycee Madu phone call to police chief

A retired Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta Justice is being brought in to investigate whether or not former cabinet minister Kaycee Madu interfered with justice when he called Edmonton’s police chief after getting a traffic ticket.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney already requested Madu step down from his role, with Minister Sonya Savage stepping in as acting justice minister and solicitor general.

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Justice Adele Kent will report her findings by Feb. 15 and the results will be made public.

Last Monday, Madu issued a statement, explaining the phone call, saying he regrets it and that he called because he wanted to be sure that he wasn’t being unlawfully surveilled. Madu also raised concerns about racial profiling.

“Chief [Dale] McFee assured me that that was most definitely not the case, and I accepted him at his word,” Madu’s statement reads in part. “To be abundantly clear, at no point did I request that the ticket be rescinded.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 (sic) Chief McFee.”

On the morning of March 10, he was ticketed for distracted driving for being on a cellphone while behind the wheel in a school zone. He paid the $300 ticket soon after but not before reaching out to McFee.

Madu, in his statements, has disagreed with the ticket. He said his phone was in his pocket.

That prompted an angry response from Staff Sgt. Mike Elliott, head of the Edmonton Police Association, which represents rank-and-file officers.

Elliott said if Madu believed he was being unfairly treated, there is a complaint process that should be followed that doesn’t include a direct call to the chief of police.

– With files from the Canadian Press