ATHABASCA – The Province of Alberta's legislation which would increase their oversight of municipalities may not have as much impact on municipal politics in this area as others, according to local elected officials.
Premier Danielle Smith and the UCP tabled Bill 20 — the Municipal Statues Amendment — April 25, which broadly increases the provincial government’s control over municipal councils and proposes changes to the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA).
Reactions have varied across the province. Alberta Municipalities President and Wetaskiwin Mayor Tyler Gandam and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) President and Ponoka County Reeve Paul McLaughlin both came out heavily against the statement, calling it government overreach.
“Bill 20 would allow the provincial government to remove councillors and repeal bylaws it doesn’t like based on backroom cabinet decisions made without public scrutiny or accountability,” said Gandam during an April 29 press event.
Some of those changes include the ability to force municipalities to overturn bylaws, open up donations of up to $5,000 to corporations and unions, and bans the use of electronic vote counting in the province.
Athabasca County, the Town of Athabasca, and the Village of Boyle all confirmed the ban wouldn’t have an impact on them since none of the three were using electronic vote counting machines before.
Ric McIver, Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs, said the government is merely doing its part to ensure basic democratic principles are being upheld.
“Our government is committed to strengthening Albertans’ trust in their local governments and the democratic process that elects local leaders,” said McIver. “We know how important local democracy is to Albertans and we will work with local authorities to protect and enhance the integrity of local elections.”
McIver said in an update Thursday (May 2) that the government will introduce changes to clarify how and when cabinet can overrule local governments.
"Alberta’s government recognizes this authority should only be used as a last resort, which was always the intent of this legislation," McIver said in a statement Thursday.
"We would not do this lightly.”
McIver indicated bylaw repeals would be used only in areas of shared responsibility, such as health care, education or public safety.
Local reactions
Local politicians were less concerned about the upcoming changes — Athabasca County Reeve Brian Hall declined to fully weigh in on the matter, citing council’s lack of a formal stance, but did point out that municipalities exist as children of the province and not of the constitution.
In Boyle, Mayor Colin Derko said many of the changes, including a trial run in Edmonton and Calgary that will introduce political parties to municipal politics, are unlikely to impact his village.
“For us, it would probably be redundant,” said Derko, who did add that he didn’t understand the need, although he trusted the province to have a reason. “It doesn’t really impact us, but I only really live in my own world.”
In a similar fashion, Derko said the fundraising changes were unlikely to impact any local municipalities — in 2021, only seven candidates ran for Boyle’s five seats, and on the county side, three candidates were acclaimed, and two other ridings were two-person races.
“That’s more a big city one as well, we aren’t going to have a union giving me money to run in Boyle,” said Derko. “I think they need to make it clear for donations, and I think they’re just cleaning that up a little bit. I like that part.”
Athabasca Mayor Rob Balay was the most skeptical of the three — in particular, he said the changes to allow the province to remove councils and repeal bylaws were too far and seemed to be a solution to a non-existent problem.
“It made me scratch my head a little bit, there is a process in place right now to remove a councillor or a mayor if necessary, through recall,” he said. “What I like about that more than the proposal in Bill 20 is at least it’s the people who elected the individual who are removing that individual, as opposed to Municipal Affairs or the minister taking them out.
“If the electorate put them into power, it should be the electorate taking them out,” said Balay.
You said it
Town and Country Today has run a series of polls on the relationship between the province and municipalities over the last month and a half. The polls are merely a sampling of public opinion and are not intended to be representative of the Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock riding.
An April 26 poll asked, “Does the province need to make local governments more accountable?” 184 readers responded, with 60 saying yes, local councils require greater oversight, 44 saying no, municipalities are democratically elected bodies, and 80 saying that Bill 20 was a power grab by the province.
On April 12, the question was, “Do you approve of the Alberta government acting as a gatekeeper between municipalities and the federal government,” which 169 people responded to. Seventy-eight readers said yes, Alberta must assert itself and defend its jurisdiction, 85 said no, it’s not fair to towns and cities and seems like petty politics, and six said they weren’t sure.
Lastly, on March 22 we asked, “Is the UCP trustworthy when it says it’s not trying to take over municipal councils by encouraging parties in local politics?”
Just over 200 people responded, with 46 saying yes, the UCP is just trying to bring more accountability to local politics, 65 saying no, the UCP agenda is being set by Take Back Alberta, 83 saying it’s not a matter of trust, political parties in municipal politics are just a bad idea, and eight saying the opposite, that municipal political parties were a great idea.
