Bill would grant Alberta powers to fire municipal councillors, overturn bylaws

EDMONTON — The Alberta government introduced a bill Thursday that would grant it sweeping powers over municipalities, including the right to fire councillors and overturn bylaws.

The proposed law would also allow political parties to run on municipal ballots in Edmonton and Calgary as soon as next year.

Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said the new powers are justified to ensure fair elections and accountability from municipal leaders, and they would only be used as a last resort.

“My most fervent wish is that this authority is never ever used. We don’t want to intervene in municipal matters,” McIver told reporters before the bill was introduced in the legislature.

He said the criteria for removing councillors would be decided by Premier Danielle Smith’s cabinet on a case-by-case basis.

“I think the public would be most unforgiving of us if we make a decision to dismiss a duly elected councillor and don’t have a darn good reason,” McIver said.

The provincial government’s authority over local bylaws was previously limited to land use and, more recently, public masking and vaccinations.

McIver said the province needs the bill to ensure municipalities are governing on affairs that are within their jurisdiction.

The bill makes other changes. It would ban the use of electronic voting tabulators, forcing municipalities to hand-count ballots, in order to better protect the integrity of the vote, said McIver.

“If we can reduce doubt in the public’s confidence about who is declared the winners, we think that rises above all other considerations.”

Putting political parties on municipal slates has been opposed by municipalities. But McIver said the goal is to strengthen trust in local government.

“Seventy per cent of the public don’t want political parties, and over 98 per cent of municipalities won’t have them,” he said.

In the past, Smith has taken aim at the province’s two largest cities, saying in February that single-use plastic bylaws show that city councils had gone off the partisan rails. 

“Because they’re getting far more political and far more ideological, there probably needs to be more transparency about that,” she said at the time.

Two weeks ago, Smith’s United Conservative Party government introduced a bill that would give it the power to veto any deal between the federal government and provincial entities, including municipalities and post-secondary schools.

On Thursday, municipal politicians were quick to push back against the bill. 

Edmonton Coun. Aaron Paquette wrote on social media, “Bend the knee or be fired? Is this democracy?”

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said in a statement she’s pleased to see some measures, like allowing for criminal record checks for candidates, but others are troubling.

“I’m left asking why they have inserted themselves into municipal government in a manner that actually strips the voting public’s right to elect the council they deem to be the best to serve them,” Gondek said.

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said in a social media post a vast majority of residents don’t want political parties at the local level. He said the legislation would make city council decision-making more toxic and divisive.

“People know that local issues aren’t partisan issues,” he said.

Alberta Municipalities president Tyler Gandam said the organization representing more than 260 municipalities will be looking for clarification on details of the bill, especially when it comes to allowing cabinet to overturn bylaws and dismiss elected councillors. 

“Why? What are the parameters going to be for them to be able to do that?” he said, adding it’s unclear how political parties could improve city councils.

“It just feels like they’re not listening to Albertans,” said Gandam.

New Democrat Opposition municipal affairs critic Kyle Kasawski said municipal governments can and should disagree with the province of a strong democracy.

“We need councillors and mayors that know they can do their job and don’t have to be worried about oversight and overreach from a provincial government that wants to put them in line,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2024.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press