'A slap in the face': Edmonton police association upset with Madu; Kenney not answering questions
The leader of Edmonton's police association joined a growing list of people Wednesday who are calling for Kaycee Madu to step down permanently as Alberta's minister of justice and solicitor general.
Madu is embroiled in controversy after he admitted that he called the city's police chief after he received a distracted-driving ticket last March.
Madu paid the ticket, but still insists his phone was in his pocket before he was pulled over.
The MLA for Edmonton-South West, who is Black, said he called because he wanted to make sure he wasn't being surveilled or racially profiled by the Edmonton Police Service.
"I thought it was preposterous to make such an allegation," said S/Sgt. Michael Elliott, president of the Edmonton Police Association.
"I may get in trouble for saying this, but it's like a slap in the face to my colleagues," he told CTV News Edmonton.
In an explanation posted to Twitter Tuesday night, Madu referred to a case involving the Lethbridge Police Service.
Last July, LPS officers Sgt. Jason Carrier and Const. Keon Woronuk were temporarily demoted after admitting they tracked MLA Shannon Phillips and took photographs of her for personal and political reasons.
"First, due to the timing of the incident, I wanted to ensure that I was not being unlawfully surveilled following the Lethbridge Police Service controversy, and on my way to Legislature on a day I was meeting with the media to answer questions on Lethbridge Police Service," Madu wrote.
"Second, I also raised concerns around profiling of racial minorities that was in the media at the time and wanted the Chief to hear about my own experience. As Minister, these are concerns that were constantly being brought to my attention."
Madu said EPS Chief Dale McFee assured him he wasn't being watched or profiled, so the MLA accepted him at his word.
Elliott said he personally knows the officer that pulled over Madu and called the MLA's concerns "shameful and preposterous."
"We're out there 24/7 trying to assist and help the citizens every day. This was an infraction in a school zone, where there's children around, and giving a ticket for that is the appropriate measure," Elliott explained.
"But to look up and try to make an accusation, or to try to draw some parallel that it's race related, is unfathomable."
Elliott said EPS members who receive traffic tickets are not supposed to reach out to a supervisor or higher ranking officer about that because "it's just wrong."
Meanwhile, Premier Jason Kenney has not yet answered questions about when he knew about the incident and why it went unreported for 10 months.
CTV News Edmonton reached out to the justice ministry and to several people in the premier's office for comment on this story, but received no responses.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.