Tyler Shandro cleared of professional misconduct by law society

Article content

A Law Society of Alberta tribunal committee has cleared former Alberta cabinet minister Tyler Shandro of professional misconduct.

Shandro, who has been a law society member since 2005, had faced three citations alleging he broke professional code of conduct rules, the first of which centred on a heated confrontation in the Calgary driveway of Dr. Mukarram Zaidi in 2020 over a social-media post.

Article content

The second charge accused him of using his position as minister of health to obtain personal cellphone numbers and calling two doctors outside of regular working hours.

The third citation was related to Shandro’s use of his government email to respond to accusations from the public that his wife’s health benefits company represented a conflict of interest.

In a ruling published Thursday — some 10 months after the law society’s hearing concluded — the tribunal committee ruled Shandro had not broken professional rules around those incidents.

“While we conclude that the citations were not made out, the committee thought that Mr. Shandro’s conduct at the time of the events that give rise to the citations was at times inappropriate,” wrote committee members Bud Melnyk and Grant Vogeli.

“However, we find that the conduct did not rise to the level of conduct deserving of sanction. Mr. Shandro is not guilty on all three citations.”

In an emailed statement, Shandro told Postmedia he was pleased to have been exonerated and decried the use of what he believed was abuse of the complaint process for political gain.

Article content

Article content

“These complaints were the culmination of years of politically fuelled personal attacks on me and my family,” he stated, adding he was grateful the process was over.

“I am pleased to put this matter behind me, and I applaud the decision of the panel for today’s vindication.”

Not ‘sanctionable’

Regarding the driveway visit to Dr. Zaidi, the majority of the committee found Shandro’s actions did not impair his ability to perform as a lawyer or reflect negatively on the legal profession.

“It is clear that Mr. Shandro attended at the home of Dr. M.Z. as a father and husband, and not principally as the minister of health,” it reads.

“There is nothing in the conduct of Mr. Shandro which relates in any reasonable connection to the activities of the profession.”

On the second citation, the committee was unanimous in clearing Shandro, ruling that he obtained the numbers and made the calls in his capacity as health minister.

“We see nothing that is reprehensible in the actions of Mr. Shandro,” the ruling reads, though the committee noted the former minister had made misleading statements about the incident in prior written submissions.

Article content

On the third count, the committee was again unanimous in finding that Shandro hadn’t broken conduct rules when he replied to an email a member of the public had sent to his wife.

In his response, Shandro threatened to refer that individual to the authorities if they did not address future correspondence to his ministerial office.

The committee again found Shandro was not acting as a lawyer at the time of the incident. The members did, however, chastise Shandro for the tone of his email.

“The reply email of Mr. Shandro borders on lacking civility and professionalism and as such it will tend to harm the standing of the legal profession,” it reads.

“In the context of events at this time, this lone concern does not raise the matter to being sanctionable.”

‘Crossed the line’

One committee member partly dissented, arguing Shandro should have been ruled guilty on the citation regarding the driveway visit.

“At the time, Mr. Shandro was a very public member of government, known publicly to be a lawyer with cabinet positions and at the time of the sidewalk/driveway incident, in the position of minister of health,” wrote Edith Kloberdanz.

Article content

She noted “public perception is fundamental here” and argued the presence of the doctor’s children at the confrontation was an aggravating factor.
“This shows not only poor judgment, but in my opinion, crossed the line into inappropriate conduct on Mr. Shandro’s part.”

Section 7.3 of the law society’s code of conduct states “A lawyer who engages in another profession … must not allow such outside interest to jeopardize the lawyer’s professional integrity, independence or competence.”

Trio accused by organization

Shandro served as Alberta’s health minister from April 2019 to September 2021, as labour and immigration minister between September 2021 and February 2022, and as the province’s justice minister from February 2022 to June 2023.

He returned to practise law after his 22-vote defeat in the May 2023 provincial election and was named to Covenant Health’s board of directors on Jan. 31, 2024.

Shandro was one of three former Alberta justice ministers facing misconduct allegations from the law society.

A hearing for Jonathan Denis — who was justice minister under three premiers from 2012 to 2015 — ended in mid-April with a decision still to come.

Article content

Kaycee Madu — who was justice minister from August 2020 to February 2022 — appeared before a law society tribunal committee last month after calling Edmonton’s chief of police soon after a March 2021 distracted driving traffic stop. The decision was also reserved to an unspecified future date.

— With files from Jonny Wakefield

mblack@postmedia.com

Article content