Tyler Shandro
Tyler Shandro | |
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Minister of Health of Alberta | |
Assumed office April 30, 2019 | |
Premier | Jason Kenney |
Preceded by | Sarah Hoffman |
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Acadia | |
Assumed office April 16, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Brandy Payne |
Personal details | |
Born | c. 1976 (age 47–48)[1] |
Political party | United Conservative Party |
Residence(s) | Calgary, Alberta |
Occupation | Lawyer and Businessman |
Tyler Shandro (born c. 1976) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to the 30th Alberta Legislature representing the electoral district of Calgary-Acadia.[2] He is a member of the United Conservative Party and was appointed to the Executive Council of Alberta as the Alberta Minister of Health on April 30, 2019.[3]
He is a lawyer and a former member of several boards, including the Criminal Injuries Review Board, the National Parole Board, and the Municipal Government Board.[4][5] Tyler also served on the Calgary Police Commission. Previously he was appointed as a member of the Disaster Advisory Committee after the 2013 Alberta floods.[6][5]
Scandal and controversy
In March 2020, Shandro was implicated in a scandal after CBC news made it public that Shandro's wife was head of an insurance company that profited off of changes to provincial physician reimbursement that led to physicians having to fire staff and shutter practices. Shandro later publicly attacked a physician who shared a meme critical of the apparent conflict of interest on social media, screaming at and berating the physician that his wife was receiving threats as a result. Incidents were also revealed related to Shandro directly contacting his constituents to harass and bully them in reply to messages sent to his wife's company, detailing a clear conflict of interest. Both Shandro and his wife were witnessed screaming, crying and bullying a neighbour. The same article reveals that Shandro harassed a constituent and called her a madwoman when she complained regarding the apparent conflict of interest, in that a company both he and his wife are deeply involved in are benefiting from legislative changes that he pushed through, Shandro then threatened to send provincial security services after the woman.[7]
Minister Shandro was also accused of illegally obtaining the personal phone numbers of two physicians from Alberta Health Services, and contacting them. Sharon Polsky, president of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada, said: "That's tantamount to obtaining a personal home address and knocking on the door and saying 'Hi, I'm your boss the minister, I'd like to have a chat with you.'"[8]
Response
Following media coverage of the confrontation, political opposition and citizens called for the resignation of Shandro.[9][10] Despite the public outcry, and the physician fearing for his family's safety,[11] Shandro refused to publicly apologize to the physician. Shandro did, however, apologize to citizens for distracting from the COVID-19 pandemic[9] and received support from United Conservative Party leader, Jason Kenney, who agreed that Shandro's behaviour was justified given that Shandro felt he was defending his family.[9]. Shandro has struggled to recover from this incident, with a mere 34% of Albertans expressing their approval for his handling of COVID-19 (the lowest approval rating in Canada).[12] In a July 2020 survey of Alberta doctors, 98% of respondents said that they had lost confidence in Shandro.[13]
References
- ^ "Tyler Shandro". Avenue Calgary. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
- ^ "Alberta election: Calgary-Acadia results - Calgary". Globalnews.ca. 2019-03-17. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
- ^ https://globalnews.ca/video/5221353/alberta-premier-jason-kenney-appoints-cabinet-ministers
- ^ "Tyler Shandro". Avenuecalgary.com. 19 October 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ a b "Tyler Shandro - Wilson Laycraft". Wilcraft.com. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ Bill Kaufmann (14 May 2018). "Calgary police see internal complaints soar". Calgaryherald.com. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-minister-tyler-shandro-behaviour-vital-partners-1.5511288
- ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/health-minister-shandro-confidential-information-1.5519962
- ^ a b c https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/bizarre-reckless-and-frankly-intimidating-ndp-calls-on-premier-to-fire-shandro-from-health-portfolio/wcm/19c99c01-704d-46ed-92c5-437bbac271a0/
- ^ https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/tuesdays-letters-shandro-should-step-down-as-health-minister/
- ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/zaidi-shandro-safety-1.5515564
- ^ https://calgaryherald.com/news/braid-poll-shows-dr-deena-hinshaws-a-smash-hit-while-government-popularity-lags
- ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-medical-association-health-minister-tyler-shandro-vote-1.5667412