'The equivalent of jaywalking': Tyler Shandro's lawyer says law society complaints should be dismissed

Tyler Shandro engaged in "impulsive and highly inappropriate behaviour" and deserves to be sanctioned, argued counsel for the Law Society of Alberta as part of final submissions in the former health minister's conduct hearing.

But Shandro's lawyer Grant Stapon said his client's behaviour is at worst, "the equivalent of jaywalking" and argued Shandro is the victim of complaints that are politically motivated. 

Shandro, a Calgary lawyer who served in cabinet for the United Conservative Party, is before the Law Society of Alberta (LSA) over complaints he behaved unprofessionally in interactions with three doctors and a member of the public.

All of the interactions took place in the early days of the pandemic, when Shandro was Alberta's health minister under then-premier Jason Kenney.

The LSA's conduct hearing took place over several days spanning the last eight months. Final arguments were made Tuesday.

Shandro, who lost his Calgary-Acadia seat by a margin of 25 votes in May's election, faces three citations.

He is accused of bringing the reputation of the profession into disrepute by showing up at a doctor's home on March 21, 2020, to confront him about a social media post which implied the minister was embroiled in a conflict of interest over his wife's operation of a private health insurance company. 

At the time, Shando was at odds with the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) over an agreement with the province's doctors, who wanted him to reinstate a long-standing compensation agreement with physicians or leave his post as health minister.

Earlier in the hearing, Shandro testified that in March 2020, he and his wife were being bombarded with hate mail and threats connected to the AMA dispute as well as allegations he was in a conflict of interest with his wife Andrea Shandro's company, Vital Partners.

The company brokers supplementary health insurance, including for some of the coverage that had been delisted through legislative changes advanced by Shandro. Ethics commissioner Marguerite Trussler had said Shandro was not in a conflict of interest because he'd transferred his shares in the company to a blind trust.

Dr. Mukarram Zaidi shared a photo of Shandro with a thought-bubble caption reading, "So every Albertan that I can kick off health care is another client we can sign up for Vital Partners. We're going to be RICH." 

In his closing arguments, Stapon said the interaction between Shandro and Zaidi was "a fully private conversation between parties who know each other."

"He goes to have a discussion with a man that he knows … to raise concerns that there's threats to his family that are occurring," said Stapon.

Shandro's second citation involves contacting two doctors by using his ministerial position to obtain their personal cell phone numbers.