A CBC investigation found that Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu was issued a $300 fine for distracted driving in a school zone on March 10, 2021. Within hours of receiving the ticket, the justice minister responded by calling Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee directly to discuss the infraction. This comes as Madu’s justice ministry plans to implement changes that would prevent those charged with traffic offenses from challenging their charges in a court of law.
Recourse for me…
Madu claims that the charge, using his phone while driving, is not accurate, but has since paid the fine. Both Madu and McFee claim at no point was there a request to drop the ticket. This would be far from the first time a leading UCP or Edmonton Police Service (EPS) official lied to save face. It has been confirmed that the conversation between the minister and chief involved two topics. The first was to ensure that the minister was not the subject of covert surveillance by EPS. This is odd considering that Madu, both in rhetoric and policy, has been extremely supportive of law enforcement agencies, previously stating he has had “nothing but friendly encounters with police” and described calls to defund police “ridiculous.”
There have been past instances of illegal surveillance of public figures by police in Alberta. The Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) surveilled NDP MLA Shannon Phillips during her time in government. This included illegal record searches, physical surveillance, and running the license plates of her associates. Several members of the LPS had a personal grudge against Phillips, who in her time as environment minister closed off sections of a local park to ATVs, apparently a favored pastime of officers. The officers involved were demoted, but remain employed with the LPS.
There is also the recent case of Edmonton-South MLA Thomas Dang. Dang resigned from the NDP caucus pending an investigation related to an RCMP search warrant for his home in December. Police have not stated what prompted this search. It is likely in response to the handling of a reported security vulnerability in Alberta’s vaccination records system, which has been rife with bugs and security issues. Dang, who has a background in computer science and cybersecurity, was alerted to a vulnerability by a constituent, which he then confirmed and reported to Alberta Health Services. No charges have been laid, and the RCMP have yet to issue any confirmation as to why a whistleblower is being investigated.
In all these cases, police forces have exclusively targeted NDP MLAs. For Madu to have such preoccupations with surveillance is either a complete misinterpretation of events, paranoia, or obfuscation.
The second topic Madu discussed with McFee were issues of potential racial profiling by police. This is also odd given Madu’s words and actions as a UCP minister. One of his first initiatives as justice minister in the summer of 2020 was to formally ban “carding”, the practice of randomly asking members of the public for identification without cause, by police in Alberta. This is widely acknowledged as a practice that targets poor, racialized, and minority communities.
This formal ban on carding is a purely cosmetic, empty gesture. For one, the EPS, the RCMP, and all other forces in the province claimed that they had not previously employed this practice, as it is in clear violation of an individual’s Charter rights. More importantly, the ordinance banning carding allowed for so called “street checks”, allowing police to gather the same information for a number of reasons, including because an officer suspects a future crime may be committed. This gives officers the ability to harass citizens without cause or evidence, a violation of the most basic checks on their power. The difference between carding and “street checks” is effectively zero. For Kaycee Madu to suddenly become concerned about racial profiling in an instance that affects him personally, while in the role of justice minister, is cynical and self-serving beyond words.
But not for thee…
Kaycee Madu attempted to seek some kind of recourse for an offense he claims he did not commit. This is a basic democratic right, yet as the head of the Alberta justice ministry, he is attempting to remove the ability of others to do this.
Enter the UCP’s Bill 21. Originally introduced in 2020, Phase 1 of the bill amended penalties for impaired driving (lowering them in most cases). Phase 2 was slated to take effect Feb. 2 of this year. With Phase 2, the UCP government said that “two million traffic tickets would be diverted away from court by the move, freeing up at least 10 prosecutors” and that it would “streamline the process and free up more court and policing resources.” This would change the process for contesting traffic offenses. Previously the accused was allowed a court date before a judge where witnesses could be called and evidence presented. A judge could decrease fines, extend payment periods, or throw them out altogether.
Under the new proposed system, the right to this due process is dismantled. Those wishing to challenge charges have seven days in which they can apply through an online portal, to be managed by “a government-appointed adjudicator”, to be resolved within 21 days. The notes and documentation of officers issuing the ticket will be taken by this adjudicator as sworn testimony, without the officer present or the ability to challenge their account. This process requires the payment of a $50 to $150 non-refundable charge. Convictions may be appealed and brought to the Court of the Queen’s Bench, but this requires hiring private lawyers, which is economically non-viable for the vast majority of Albertans.
The presumption of innocence is gone, with the accused given a meager chance to present their case… for a price. The fee to even contest accusations removes any chance of justice altogether for those who cannot pay. A $150 fee on top of a dubious fine is an expense many working Albertans cannot bear, as pointed out by NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir: “The reality is that many Albertans are struggling financially and can’t produce $150 within seven days… If they are unable to produce that money, it means many working Albertans will be prevented from making their voices heard and denied access to justice.” While Madu’s apparent concern about racial profiling is shallow and self-serving, racially marginalized people are more likely to be subject to police scrutiny and discrimination in the legal system, and are therefore more likely to be disproportionatly affected by this dramatic shift towards summary conviction.
Costs of a broken system
Why is this being done now? Like virtually every sector of the Alberta public sector, public expenditure in the justice system lagged behind the needs of a growing population. In 2016 the average wait time for civil trials was more than two years. That year the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that cases delayed more than 18 months for provincial courts and 30 months for superior courts due to the fault of the justice system violated the Charter right to be tried in a reasonable time. At present, 47 of 378 prosecutor positions are unfilled. Alberta Crown prosecutors face a chronic turnover rate, with federal and other provincial systems providing better pay, lower workloads, and more mental health supports.The UCP government refused to enter into collective bargaining with prosecutors. COVID-19, UCP cuts to legal aid, and diversionary service have further exacerbated these issues. The most recent surge of cases saw the Alberta Superior Court and Court of the Queen’s Bench suspend in-person proceedings for all but the most pressing criminal cases from Jan. 4 to 21. Thus the pandemic becomes cover for the government to disempower workers and the poor while extracting revenue from them.
Tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals and corporations along with emergency pandemic spending must be recouped eventually, and these changes are consistent with the operating procedure of the UCP government: reduced access to public services with added costs. Government registries have been privatized and allowed to increase fees arbitrarily. The removal of caps on insurance and utility rates have seen companies jack up rates as their paycheques shrink and dollars buy less. A health system long in need of upgrades and expanded capacity is nearing a breaking point, pushing those who can afford it into privatized services for medical imaging and other procedures. This lays the groundwork for Jason Kenney’s long-sought privatization of the health-care system. What’s more, Phase 3 of Bill 21 would expand this system for all finable offenses, even fishing and hunting violations. It costs a lot of money, being poor, and the UCP are making it more expensive.
The revelations of Kaycee Madu’s impropriety has deepened the backlash to this unpopular policy by an incredibly unpopular government. With Madu placed on leave as his conduct is investigated, Acting Minister of Justice Sonya Savage announced on Jan. 26 that the UCP would delay the implementation of Phase 2. “We will take the next 90 to 120 days to ensure that we communicate and consult with Albertans and that they are educated on the changes proposed in Phase 2,” Savage said. “We will listen to what Albertans have to say and we will share the benefits of these changes with them.” As to what this process would entail, no details have been disclosed. Prior cases of the UCP public “consultation”, such as with the backlash to proposed changes to school curriculums, have been ignored.
As crises compound the pressure on the UCP in particular, they will implement ever more draconian measures in an attempt to forward their agenda. Just as Bill 1 is a direct attack on the right to protest, Bill 21 is an assault on democratic rights. The delaying of the implementation of Phase 2 of Bill 21 is only a result of mass outrage following the Madu scandal. It has become a focal point for anger at the deeply hypocritical, reckless rule of the UCP. In these times of crisis, democratic rights are shown to be less durable when they are inconvenient for the ruling class.
