The Honourable
Kaycee Madu
KC ECA
Deputy Premier of Alberta
In office
October 24, 2022 – June 9, 2023
Serving with Nathan Neudorf
PremierDanielle Smith
Preceded bySarah Hoffman (2016)
Succeeded byMike Ellis
Minister of Skilled Trades and Professions
In office
October 24, 2022 – June 9, 2023
PremierDanielle Smith
Preceded byHimself (as minister of Labour and Immigration)
Succeeded byMatt Jones (as Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade)
Minister of Labour and Immigration
In office
February 25, 2022 – October 24, 2022
PremierJason Kenney
Preceded byTyler Shandro
Succeeded byHimself (as minister of Skilled Trades and Professions)
Rajan Sawhney (as minister of Trade, Immigration and Multiculturalism)
Minister of Justice and Solicitor General
In office
August 25, 2020 – February 25, 2022[lower-alpha 1]
PremierJason Kenney
Preceded byDoug Schweitzer
Succeeded byTyler Shandro
Minister of Municipal Affairs
In office
April 30, 2019 – August 25, 2020
PremierJason Kenney
Preceded byShaye Anderson
Succeeded byTracy Allard
Member of the
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
for Edmonton-South West
In office
April 16, 2019 – May 1, 2023
Preceded byThomas Dang
Succeeded byNathan Ip
Personal details
Born
Kelechi Madu

1973 or 1974 (age 49–50)
Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria
Political partyUnited Conservative Party
Residence(s)Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • politician

Kelechi "Kaycee" Madu KC ECA (born 1973 or 1974)[1] is a Canadian lawyer and politician. As a member of the United Conservative Party (UCP), Madu represented Edmonton-South West in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2019 to 2023. He was first elected in the 2019 provincial election. He was Alberta's minister of municipal affairs from 2019 to 2020, minister of justice and solicitor general of Alberta from 2020 to 2022 (the first Black person to serve as a provincial minister of justice in Canada).

Madu was shuffled to the labour and immigration portfolio in 2022 after a probe into a phone call he made to Edmonton's chief of police after receiving a traffic ticket. The probe found that Madu had not interfered in the administration of justice, but that his phone call to the chief of police created a "reasonable perception of interference".

Following the election of Danielle Smith as leader of the UCP and her appointment as premier, Madu was named her deputy premier. He served in this role from October 24, 2022. Madu lost his seat in the assembly in the 2023 Alberta general election to school trustee Nathan Ip

Early life

Madu was born and raised in Southeastern Nigeria, and attended the University of Lagos graduating with a Bachelor of Laws, and being called to the bar in Nigeria.[2] He immigrated to Edmonton in 2005 with his wife Emem for her postgraduate studies at the University of Alberta.[2][3]

Madu would work for Alberta Hospital, Legal Aid Alberta and the Government of Alberta in a number of different roles.[2]

Political career

Kelechi Madu was an active member of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, organizing delegate selection meetings, and later supporting the merger of the party with the Wildrose Party in 2017.[2] Madu would volunteer and support Jason Kenney during the 2017 PC leadership election and the 2017 United Conservative Party leadership election following the merger.[2]

During the 2019 Alberta general election Madu would contest the constituency of Edmonton-South West, which was previously held by New Democratic Party MLA Thomas Dang, who chose to run in Edmonton-South following the 2017 electoral boundary redistribution. Madu would defeat four candidates capturing 10,245 votes (45%), above the next closest candidate John Archer, a former reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and Brian Mason's press secretary, representing the NDP with 9,539 (42%).[4][5] Madu would be the only United Conservative Party candidate elected within the boundaries of the city of Edmonton.

In the 2023 Alberta general election, Madu was defeated in the Edmonton-South West riding by New Democratic Party candidate Nathan Ip.[6]

Minister of Municipal Affairs

On April 30, 2019, Madu was appointed to the Executive Council of Alberta as the Minister of Municipal Affairs,[7] and held that role until August 25, 2020, when he was appointed Minister of Justice and Solicitor General.

Early in his mandate, Madu wrote an op-ed published in Postmedia newspapers titled Spending by Alberta's two big cities— is unsustainable which called on municipal leaders in Calgary City Council and Edmonton City Council to lower spending and reduce taxes, claiming the cities placed an "undue burden" on residents.[8] The article was published on October 22, 2019, two days prior to the introduction of the provincial budget. Claims made in the op-ed were challenged by the Mayors of Calgary and Edmonton, including that the data supplied by Canadian Federation of Independent Business significantly overestimated the 10-year growth in municipal expenditures, and did not account for inflation.[9]

During his time as Minister of Municipal Affairs, Madu was responsible for a number of controversial funding reductions to Alberta municipalities. Among those decisions, included the repealing of the City Charters Fiscal Framework Act which legislated provincial transfers to the Cities of Edmonton and Calgary;[10] reductions to the Municipal Sustainability Initiative, an infrastructure financing program which was reduced cumulatively by $236-million over two years from 2020–21 to 2021–22; and reduction of the Grants in Place of Taxes program by 50%, which provides municipalities with grants which off-set the property tax requisitions for provincially owned buildings.[11] Madu oversaw the beginning of property assessment valuation changes to oil and gas infrastructure, changing from a valuation based on the replacement cost, to the depreciated value of the asset, which led to the leaders of a number of rural municipalities in Alberta speaking out. According to CTV News, municipalities in rural Alberta raised concerns that the proposed changes would "cost them millions" by reducing the property tax base by between $108-million to $291-million.[12]

Madu introduced Local Authorities Election Amendment Act, 2020 (Bill 29) to the Alberta Legislature in June 2020, which amended the legislation which outlines the rules for municipal and school board elections. The amendments to the Local Authorities Election Act removed the requirement for candidates to disclose their donors prior to election day, removed limits on spending by third-party advertisers outside the local election campaign period from May 1 to election day in October, and allowed individuals to donate up to $5,000 to as many candidates as they want during an election.[13] The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, which represents urban municipal elected officials in Alberta released a statement shortly after the introduction of Bill 29, stating the relationship between Minister Madu and the association was "Broken". Bill 29 and other policy decisions were cited as the reason for the statement by the AUMA.[14] One month following the statement, Premier Jason Kenney shuffled his Cabinet, moving Madu to Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, and promoting backbench MLA Tracy Allard to the role of Minister of Municipal Affairs.

On March 4, 2020, Kaycee Madu was designated as a Queen's Counsel by the lieutenant governor of Alberta via an Order-in-Council. Queen's Counsel is the highest honour awarded to lawyers who have made significant contributions to the advancement of law and society.

Minister of Justice and Solicitor General of Alberta

Madu was named Minister of Justice and Solicitor General of Alberta in August 2020. As the first Black person to serve in the role, as well as his work experience with the legal aid system, Madu's appointment was praised for bringing "much-needed perspective".[15]

Lethbridge police

In March 2021, CBC News reported that the Lethbridge Police Service monitored the environment minister under the previous New Democratic government, among other scandals. This prompted Madu to give an April 16 deadline to the service to "address issues of recruiting, training, oversight, discipline, transparency and communications".[16] Upon receipt of the service's submission, Madu indicated his disappointment. In January 2022, the service signed an agreement which would begin an inquiry surrounding the issues.[17]

Traffic ticket incident

On March 10, 2021, Madu was stopped by the Edmonton Police Service and issued a traffic ticket for using his cellphone while driving in a school zone. Following the incident, Madu would call Chief of Police Dale McFee, raising concerns about the context of the stop, discussing people of colour being stopped by police and tension with the Lethbridge Police Service. McFee later stated that Madu did not ask for the ticket to be rescinded.[18]

The incident was revealed on January 17, 2022 and prompted calls for Madu's resignation.[19]

Madu was placed on a leave of absence later in the day by Premier Jason Kenney pending the conclusion of a probe into his conduct. In the interim, energy minister Sonya Savage assumed his position in an acting capacity.[20]

An investigation into the matter by Alberta Court of Queen's Bench judge Adele Kent found that Madu had not interfered in the administration of justice, but that his phone call to the chief of police created a "reasonable perception of interference."[21]

Minister of Labour and Immigration

On February 25, 2022, Madu was moved from his position as justice minister to Minister of Labour and Immigration in a role swap with Tyler Shandro, who took over as justice minister.[21]

Deputy Premier and Minister of Skilled Trades and Professions

On October 24, 2022, Madu was named deputy premier along with Nathan Neudorf by premier Danielle Smith. He served in this role until the dissolution of the 30th Alberta legislature on May 1, 2023.

Electoral history

2023 general election

2023 Alberta general election: Edmonton-South West
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticNathan Ip14,38056.52+14.67
United ConservativeKaycee Madu10,74142.21-2.77
GreenJeff Cullihall3231.27+0.72
Total 25,44499.41–
Rejected and declined 1500.59
Turnout 25,59462.71
Eligible voters 40,811
New Democratic gain from United Conservative Swing +8.72
Source(s)
Source: Elections Alberta[22]

2019 general election

2019 Alberta general election: Edmonton-South West
Party Candidate Votes%±%
United ConservativeKaycee Madu10,25444.99+5.96
New DemocraticJohn Archer9,53941.85-11.97
Alberta PartyMo Elsalhy2,66811.70+9.04
Alberta AdvantageMarilyn Burns2080.91–
GreenRigel Vincent1250.55–
Total 22,79499.29–
Rejected, spoiled and declined 1620.71
Turnout 22,95670.15
Eligible voters 32,726
United Conservative notional gain from New Democratic Swing +8.97
Source(s)
Source: "43 - Edmonton-South West, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 168–170. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

References

  1. ↑ Paige Parsons (2019-04-10). "Alberta Election 2019 riding profile: Edmonton-South West". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kaycee Madu". albertastrongandfree.ca. United Conservative Party of Alberta. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  3. ↑ "Kaycee Madu reflects on his journey to justice minister: 'Racism is real' | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  4. ↑ "43 - Edmonton-South West 2019 General Election Results". Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  5. ↑ Derek Van Diest Updated: April 16, 2019. "Results: Kacyee Madu wins Edmonton-South West in tightly contested battleground". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2019-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "CityNews". edmonton.citynews.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
  7. ↑ "Premier Kenney appoints strong team ready to lead" (Press Release). Government of Alberta. April 30, 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  8. ↑ Madu, Kaycee (October 22, 2019). "Madu: Spending by Alberta's two big cities— is unsustainable". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  9. ↑ Potkins, Meghan (October 23, 2019). "Madu fires shot at city hall spending ahead of Alberta budget". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  10. ↑ Cook, Dustin (October 25, 2019). "Alberta Budget 2019: Cuts to Edmonton's infrastructure funding prompts emergency council meeting Friday". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  11. ↑ Henderson, Jennifer (October 24, 2019). "Mixed news for municipalities in 2019 Alberta budget". St. Albert Today. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  12. ↑ "'The situation is dire': Municipalities say changes to how oil and gas companies are assessed would cost them millions". CTV News. Edmonton. July 31, 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Alberta local elections bill gets mixed reaction from experts, former candidates". CBC News. June 28, 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "Relationship with municipal affairs minister broken, AUMA says". CBC News. Calgary. July 23, 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Alberta MLA becomes 1st Black justice minister in Canada | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  16. ↑ Grant, Meghan (March 24, 2021). "Alberta government threatens to dissolve Lethbridge police force unless chief shows reform plan in weeks". CBC News.
  17. ↑ Dryden, Joel (January 3, 2022). "Public inquiry ordered by justice minister into Lethbridge police to proceed". CBC News.
  18. ↑ "Alberta justice minister fined for distracted driving, called police chief about ticket". CBC News. January 17, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Alberta justice minister phoned Edmonton police chief to discuss distracted-driving ticket: police". Edmonton. 2022-01-17. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  20. ↑ "Kenney strips Alberta justice minister of duties, orders probe into call to police chief over traffic ticket | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  21. 1 2 "Alberta shuffles cabinet: Shandro moves to justice, Madu becomes immigration minister". Edmonton. 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  22. ↑ "43 - Edmonton-South West". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  1. ↑ Leave of absence from January 17, 2022, to February 25, 2022.
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