Former Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro Exonerated of Professional Misconduct by Law Society

July 19, 2024 TruthUSA

A Law Society of Alberta tribunal has cleared former Alberta cabinet minister Tyler Shandro of professional misconduct and an accusation that he used his position as health minister to acquire physicians’ personal cellphone numbers.

The law society panel’s July 18 decision found Mr. Shandro not guilty on three citations concerning his conduct in 2020, which included a confrontation outside a physician’s home.

“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.”

The ruling comes 10 months after the conclusion of the law society’s hearing that examined the three accusations levelled against the former health minister.

Mr. Shandro, who was elected as the MLA for Calgary-Acadia in 2019, said he is “pleased to have been exonerated.”

“These complaints were the culmination of years of politically fueled personal attacks on me and my family,” Mr. Shandro said in a July 18 statement posted on X. “These complaints were also based on false allegations and I have maintained the allegations were baseless and frivolous. I am pleased to put this matter behind me and I applaud the decision of the panel for today’s vindication.”

During his time in office, Mr. Shandro held three cabinet positions, and was the minister of health during the pandemic. He lost re-election by 25 votes in 2023.

First Citation

The first citation against Mr. Shandro addressed his March 2020 confrontation with Dr. Mukarram Zaidi outside the physician’s Calgary home over a social media post. Mr. Shandro was not practising law at the time of the incident.

The incident began after Dr. Zaidi posted on social media a message critical of Mr. Shandro while referencing his wife’s company.

Mr. Shandro went to the Calgary home of Dr. Zaidi later that day and asked two boys playing basketball outside to get their father.

Dr. Zaidi told the committee Mr. Shandro was crying and “emotionally charged” during their less than two-minute conversation.

“(It) was a very intimidating experience, seeing the Crown’s representative and a lawyer attending at my house to tell me to delete a post,” Dr. Zaidi said, describing Mr. Shandro as “his ultimate boss.”

The former health minister gave a different account of the events, saying the social media post was personal because it referenced his wife’s business. Mr. Shandro said the conversation came out of a concern for the safety of his wife, adding that he was not yelling or crying.

Mr. Shandro testified Dr. Zaidi looked “embarrassed” and asked, “What do I do? Delete the post?”

Mr. Shandro said he told the doctor that was something he would “have to decide” for himself.

In the decision, two of the three law society panel members said Mr. Shandro’s actions were those of a family man rather than those of a lawyer.

“It is clear that Mr. Shandro attended at the home of (Dr. Mukarram Zaidi) as a father and husband, and not principally as the minister of health,” wrote committee members Bud Melnyk and Grant Vogeli.

One committee member dissented. Edith Kloberdanz said she would find Mr. Shandro guilty for his behaviour, saying it wasn’t necessary for him to visit the doctor’s home uninvited in a state of heightened emotions.

“The public’s trust and confidence in lawyers is based on the ability of lawyers to manage their behaviour in highly stressful situations and circumstances,” she wrote, adding that the impact on Dr. Zaidi and his family “was not given sufficient weight” by the other members of the panel.

She said she found it troubling that Dr. Zaidi’s children were present for a portion of the encounter.

The confrontation occurred at a time when the provincial government had just invalidated its master working agreement with physicians, and COVID-19 was taking hold around the world.

Mr. Shandro told the committee that he and his family had been facing serious threats.

Then-premier Jason Kenney defended Mr. Shandro at the time, saying it was understandable that a husband would become passionate if his spouse is being attacked, threatened, or defamed.

Additional Citations

The second citation accused Mr. Shandro of using his position as minister of health to look up the personal cellphone numbers of two doctors to call them outside of regular working hours after they had been critical of government policy.

The committee unanimously cleared Mr. Shandro of wrongdoing, saying he acquired the numbers and made the calls as the province’s health minister, not as a lawyer.

“We see nothing that is reprehensible in the actions of Mr. Shandro,” the committee wrote.

The third accusation was tied to Mr. Shandro’s use of his government email to respond to a member of the public concerning allegations that his wife’s health benefits company posed a conflict of interest.

The committee ruled that Mr. Shandro was not acting as a lawyer at the time of the incident and, therefore, could not be sanctioned. The panel did scold Mr. Shandro, however, for the wording 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,” the panel said. “In the context of events at this time, this lone concern does not raise the matter to being sanctionable.”

Mr. Shandro has returned to practising law since losing his seat in last year’s general election. He has been a law society member since 2005.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.

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